British luxury supercar and hypercar maker McLaren Automotive has announced the appointment of Michael Leiters as its new CEO, effective from 1 July. German-born Mr Leiters, 50, holds a doctorate in engineering and has held senior positions at Porsche AG and, more recently, was chief technology officer at Ferrari.

He will be based at McLaren’s global headquarters at the McLaren Technology Centre and the adjoining McLaren Production Centre in Surrey, where all the company’s supercars and hypercars are hand-built.

Mr Leiters said: “I could not be more excited to be joining McLaren Automotive as CEO at this important moment in its journey. McLaren is already recognised as one of the world’s most admired luxury supercar companies. I look forward to growing that reputation for our loyal customers, employees, fans and partners as we write the next chapter in McLaren’s illustrious history.”

He will lead the 3,000-strong workforce spanning all global activities, including the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, instrumental in innovating technology for the McLaren Artura, the company’s ground-breaking high-performance hybrid series production supercar, deliveries of which are soon to commence.

McLaren now has more than 100 retailers in over 40 territories around the world and despite the Covid-19 pandemic, continues to see strong customer demand, particularly for its limited-production models with both the 765LT Coupe and Spider variants entirely sold out along with the Ultimate Series Elva.

Paul Walsh, McLaren Group executive chairman, said: “On behalf of everyone at McLaren, I am delighted to welcome Michael as the new CEO of McLaren Automotive. His extensive industry leadership experience combined with his passion for engineering and future technology will help guide and develop our team as we enter an exciting second decade.”