McLaren opens new Woking factory

McLaren has officially opened its new 50m factory near Woking in Surrey and revealed plans to quadruple production over the next three years.

The new centre will make the MP4-12C sports car, and the company intends to increase production from the current 1000 cars a year to 4500 by 2014.

When the 32,000 square-metre factory is up to full capacity, McLaren expects to build one car every 45 minutes. The car maker currently builds 10-12 per week.

McLaren Automotive's managing director, Antony Sheriff, confirmed that the company also intends to build new models at the factory. Two models are confirmed for the next 10 years, but more are expected.

Prime Minister David Cameron attended the launch, and said of the company: 'I admire what you do here at McLaren. I've never been to anything quite like this.'