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Agree, I don't think marketing and product planning can get McLaren out of this hole. The cars actually need to be good cars and frankly I don't know if McLaren knows how to do that.

 

I was in Woking as the 12c was just kicking off production and the rep from McLaren said to me, "Do you see the windows? Each window is held together with a custom bracket and each bolt on each bracket is made custom to our specs, every part is perfect. That's how we want everything." Of course, the windows were done by a contractor. Most things were. The truth is McLaren never understood or appreciated the true cost and complexity of what it meant to produce excellence at scale but they had arrogance by the bucket load. They've been stuck fixing and repackaging the same platform ever since and it's still not right. That arrogance has lost them their brand, their heritage, and their home, so I wish Luca the best and I hope he turns things around but it's going to take buckets of cash and time that McLaren may not have.

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Luca ! …

 
By: Cpt Scarlet : July 2nd, 2025-20:58
I could hardly believe it but it’s true, Luca di Montezemolo, the man who transformed Ferrari through the 1990s and early 2000s is now on the board at McLaren ! What do think about this audacious move by both McLaren and Montezemolo ? ...  

they usually aren't

 
By: jim_94104 : July 2nd, 2025-21:38
u have to be the biggest arse to get there, or u will never get there 😂

Cannot say I fully agree 😊🤷🏻‍♂️

 
By: KMII : July 3rd, 2025-06:07
You do need to have drove and also the ability to make difficult decisions but that doesn’t mean that there’s only the way described above…

We’ve had lots of interaction with

 
By: Chicolini : July 3rd, 2025-02:00
Luca over the years being a Ferrari dealer and he is just a tough guy with not the best people skills. That’s fine though, that’s not a requirement to be successful in business, but personally, I’ve found that it helps a lot.

Couldn’t agree more 👍🏻

 
By: KMII : July 3rd, 2025-06:08
And while I do not want to elaborate in a public capacity, my experiences seem to correlate with what you say…

Interesting, thank you for your insight …

 
By: Cpt Scarlet : July 3rd, 2025-07:57
On a more important level, as a Ferrari dealer, do you have a new F40 somewhere languishing at the back of your garage 😉

Hopefully he can do something to increase the reliability of McLaren

 
By: jp884 : July 2nd, 2025-21:53
I love their cars just don't want to buy something that has the reputation of always being in the shop.

It’s an interesting point…

 
By: Cpt Scarlet : July 2nd, 2025-22:14
When McLaren were building fewer cars in the era of the 650s the reliability was reasonably good. Things only started getting worse when the production numbers drastically increased.

Agree, I don't think marketing and product planning can get McLaren out of this hole. The cars actually need to be good cars and frankly I don't know if McLaren knows how to do that.

 
By: Fastwong : July 2nd, 2025-22:32
I was in Woking as the 12c was just kicking off production and the rep from McLaren said to me, "Do you see the windows? Each window is held together with a custom bracket and each bolt on each bracket is made custom to our specs, every part is perfect. T... 

Don't get too excited...

 
By: India Whiskey Charlie : July 2nd, 2025-23:12
He's only joining the board of directors which may or may not mean much. Besides, he's quite a bit older than when he was at Ferrari. I wouldn't bet on any significant changes.

I read about that.

 
By: patrick_y : July 2nd, 2025-23:15
It's nice to see that his talents are not wasted. So it's likely a good thing for McLaren!

A "PR coup" reassuring the investors and, certainly, the owners are good friends. Indeed.

 
By: daniel_coste : July 3rd, 2025-05:19
Mr Di Montezemolo is certainly a strong character with a gigantic ego, but come on, enjoy your retirement and let the new generation work on the future of the company. (BTW, Aston Martin hired Amedeo Felisa (ex. Ferrari exec of Di Montezemolo era) and he ... 

The proof of the pudding will be in eating it…

 
By: KMII : July 3rd, 2025-06:15
I.e. is it a publicity stunt for the analysts or is something actually supposed to change. I have no basis to judge his prior non-Ferrari appointments, so really do not have a good view either way. And I do not know whether he has a flexibility to assess ...