McLaren supercar sold out in Australia until mid 2012

Asia-Pacific boss says the wait is almost over -- for the early birds at least

The Ferrari-fighting McLaren supercar -- so quick it will also leave Lamborghinis languishing -- is sold out for at least 18 months in Australia before the first car games has arrived in showrooms.

This year's first batch of 15 cars is sold out completely and more than half of next year's allocation of 40 cars is already spoken for, even though the price has not yet been announced or any customer has taken the car for a test drive.

Customer deliveries in the UK and Europe are due to begin in May and the first dozen or so cars are due Down Under in October.

The Australian distributor, Sydney-based dealer group Trivett Classic, had already received up to a dozen orders within days of the announcement that the MP4-12C was coming to Australia -- and before anyone knew how much it would cost.

McLaren has since given an indicative price of about $500,000 in Australia -- more than a Lamborghini Gallardo and less than a Ferrari 458 Italia -- but the official RRP is due to be announced locally next month.

McLaren's regional director for the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific, Ian Gorsuch, was in Australia this week to visit the Trivett dealership and discuss local launch plans for the MP4-12C later in the year.

"We've been really pleased and overwhelmed with the Australian response to the car," Gorsuch told the Carsales Network. "We've really only announced the dealership and already we are sold out beyond mid 2012.

"Trivetts were quite robustly asking for more cars but unfortunately we don't have any cars to give them," he said.

McLaren plans to produce 1000 cars for the world market this year and ramp up to 4000 cars per annum by 2015 -- after exports to China begin in 2013.

But McLaren is not chasing volume, he says. "We actually want to produce less cars than there is demand," he said. "We're not trying to outsell the others."

Ferrari sold about 6500 cars last year while Lamborghini built fewer than about 2000 vehicles.

The McLaren MP4-12C is powered by a bespoke twin turbo 3.8-litre V8 and can sprint to 100km/h in 3.3 seconds on road tyres and in 3.1 seconds on high performance track tyres favoured by most supercar makers.

The 0 to 200km/h time is more impressive still. A Porsche 911 Turbo stops the clocks at 11 seconds and the Ferrari 458 Italia at 10.4 seconds -- but the McLaren does it in 9.1 seconds on road tyres and 8.9 seconds on high performance track tyres.

The MP4-12C will be built alongside McLaren's F1 racing facility in Woking, in Unit 12, the same factory where the Mercedes-Benz SLR and BMW-powered McLaren F1 three-seater road car were built.

In 1992 McLaren built what was then the world's fastest supercar, the McLaren F1. Powered by a 6.1-litre V12 made by BMW, it had a top speed of 386km/h. Just 106 were sold.

In 2004, McLaren developed the Mercedes-McLaren SLR supercar in a joint venture with the German car maker. Powered by a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 it had a top speed of 334km/h. Between 2005 and 2007, the company sold 1151 SLRs, well short of the 1500 target. But the total SLR tally eventually reached 2200 cars once the roadster version was added.

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