McLaren slashes nearly $100k off model prices

McLaren has sharpened the pricing pencil to slice massive amounts off the price of the 12C and 12C Spider, in what may be the biggest price cuts in car history.

The hardtop 12C now carries an RRP of $398,000 (from $493,100), and the Spider drops to $441,780 (from $543,900), with the 19 per cent cut arriving exactly 12 months after the model’s local debut.

Effective from today, McLaren says the new pricing brings transparency to the 12C’s segment, which it says is prone to premium-pricing policies, with vehicles being sold discretely beneath their advertised prices.

The 12C’s nearest rival, Ferrari’s 458 Italia carries an RRP of $526,950 in hardtop guise, making the 12C somewhat of a value leader in the mid-engined V8 supercar echelon.

The 460kW twin-turbo V8 12C and 12C Spider are the first road cars to be developed by the legendary British racing brand since the hallowed F1 of the 90s, and will be joined internationally by the 673kW hybrid P1 flagship by the end of the year.

“McLaren (is) leading the way in the super luxury sports car segment by benchmarking its pricing against competitive international markets,” said Ian Gorsuch, Regional Director Asia Pacific at McLaren Automotive.

Whilst subject to different tax structures, the new 12C and 12C Spider Australian prices are still over $150,000 greater than their US pricing, despite near parity between currencies.

McLaren has sold a total of 30 12C models (to April 30) in Australia since it went on sale in May last year, with seven sold in the first four months of 2013.  

But existing 12C owners won’t necessarily be short changed, with McLaren pledging to offer an unspecified ‘special trade-in allowance’ if they trade-up to a new McLaren in future.

The new pricing applies to any new MP4-12C ordered from today, and includes all existing Australian stock.