BMW, McLaren joint sports car could shake auto world

German luxury car manufacturer, BMW, and British racing firm, McLaren, may soon team up to produce a sports car that will shake the world of auto, multiple sources have revealed.

Even though McLaren’s performance in F1 has recently been awful, everybody wants a piece of McLaren. In addition to Audi wanting a slice of the pie, BMW has commenced serious talks with the racing company on the deal, says CarBuzz, in a report on Friday.

Since it was founded in 1963, McLaren has been known to fearlessly innovate and push the boundaries on track while creating breathtaking performance cars.

For BMW, which has a rich history of producing super luxury models since 1916 when it was founded, its latest i8, is considered a peep at the future of the supercars and recasts it for an energy-conscious age.

Already, McLaren’s CEO, Zak Brown, has admitted that there are talks between the British brand and Audi on a similar project. But there are indications that the deal with BMW could overshow the former.

According to the German publication, Automobilwoche, McLaren and BMW signed a memorandum of understanding.

Teaming up would lessen the production cost, and BMW is now known for partnering with other manufacturers for this very reason. The Toyota Supra is a good example.

The report suggests that BMW and McLaren will be working together to create an EV platform. Both companies have experience with hybrid cars but have yet to make the next big step. For instance, BMW’s i8 was an engineering triumph that somehow failed, but McLaren’s P1 hypercar quickly reached iconic status. McLaren used what it learned to create the 671-hp Artura.

CarBuzz says since both companies have such a rich history of producing some of the best driving machines in existence, it makes complete sense that they’d want to team up to possibly create the benchmark performance EV.

“Where does this leave the Audi deal? Audi could opt out of the F1 side if McLaren decides to go with BMW, or it simply couldn’t care. Since the Audi deal includes the possibility of later buying a stake in the road car side of the business, we reckon Audi would drop the deal altogether,” the report notes.