McLaren Supersizes Carbon Fiber Monocoque Order

WOKING, England — The largest-ever order for carbon-fiber monocoques has been placed with Austrian company Carbo Tech by Britain's McLaren Automotive and will likely mark a watershed in automobile body design. The order is core to McLaren Automotive's plan to introduce three all-new supercars over the next few years, starting with the MP4-12C, which goes on sale in spring 2011.

McLaren's decision to use carbon for the core of its car is the result of a breakthrough in the manufacturing process that has significantly reduced the cost of making hollow-formed, highly accurate carbon structures. Previously, carbon-fiber monocoques were reserved for racecars and ultra-high-end, limited-edition supercars like the Ferrari Enzo, because they were too costly for use in less expensive cars. But manufacturing advances by Carbo Tech have made the material economically viable for more mainstream high-end sports models, McLaren Automotive being at the forefront of this trend.

Carbo Tech has built an all-new factory extension to its Salzburg, Austria, facility that has the potential to supply McLaren with 4,000 monocoque structures annually.

Carbo Tech already supplies carbon components to most of the leading prestige sports-carmakers, but McLaren is the first to buy monocoques from the company. McLaren Automotive boss Antony Sheriff believes "Carbo Tech has proven to be the ideal partner in the process that, I believe, will revolutionize the use of carbon chassis in road cars."

Unusually, the technology also has considerable potential because of its high-strength, low-weight combination, making it ideal for high-economy, low-emissions premium models. Volkswagen and Renault are both developing the material for this purpose, as is BMW, which recently signed a contract with carbon-fiber manufacturer SGL Group to build a $100-million factory in Washington to construct bodies for its upcoming MegaCity. That car will be produced in volumes substantially higher than the McLaren, but the supercar maker will come to market first with its MP4-12C. The "C" of the supercar's name stands for carbon fiber, incidentally.

The 12C will be the first of three cars that will eventually take the output of both Carbo Tech and McLaren to the planned 4,000 units annually. McLaren says that it already has 1,600 "firm orders" for the supercar.

Inside Line says: It's been a long time coming, but carbon-fiber technology is finally turning cost-effective enough to penetrate the heart of car structures, not only for high-end supercars but for premium economy cars, too. — Richard Bremner, Correspondent