Q&A with Paul Harris, managing director for McLaren Asia Pacific and China

After attending the global launch of the new McLaren 750S, we sat down with the brand’s managing director for Asia Pacific and China at its Sydney reveal, Paul Harris.

“The 750S really has taken McLaren to a completely new level,” he told us. Naturally, we had some follow-up questions.

CarExpert: Given the significant overall upgrade of the 750S over its predecessor, is the car going to be limited in any way?

Paul Harris: To be honest we’re limited by our ability to make only a certain amount of cars per day. While I can’t tell you what the build volumes for 750S are, the current volumes are less than double digits per day.

We want to create an environment where we have a least one more customer than we have cars. Rarity is an incredible commodity and that’s something we’re very keen to maintain with McLaren.

CE: Are you planning for the 750S to be more successful than the 720S despite its higher pricing?

PH: Based on our order bank so far I’d say it’s already been an enormous success. If you were to order one now in Australia, the earliest you’d likely get the car would be Q4 next year.

In terms of our biggest markets, the US accounts for around 40 per cent of total volume, with Asia not far behind, followed by the domestic market in the UK and then Europe.

CE: Historically, McLaren hasn’t delivered anywhere near the residual values of some of its rivals (namely Ferrari), so how will the 750S change that?

PH: I think overall and historically when people have been measuring residuals, we’ve actually performed quite well, especially with the 720S and especially since coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’ve now got to put some stability into that, and given demand is high for 750S, we have some control of the marketplace.

We’ve also developed a very strong preferred car market with used McLarens by refurbishing them to our standards and employing factory warranties.

CE: What is the split between 750S Coupe and Spider?

PH: Unlike the 720S which we launched with the Coupe followed by the Spider, the 750S launches with both body styles which does tend to change the demand and supply ratios.

At the moment it’s looking like 60 per cent Spider and 40 per cent Coupe. That surprised us as we thought it would be the opposite. At least in the early phase but then it should even out over time.

What I find interesting about doing the Spider and Coupe at the same time is that every customer knows exactly the position they’re taking as they place the order. However, the audience is definitely different between the two body styles.

He or she might be passionate about the performance aspects of the 750S Coupe but want the lifestyle aspects of the Spider but without any real compromise.

What we find interesting is that we’re finding a lot of new people are coming into the brand and deciding on the spider – knowing they are getting the best possible open-air experience in a super sportscar.

We’ve also got more female buyers than ever coming into the brand especially if you look at the order banks for Artura and 750S.

Japan is amazing. There’s a husband and wife team over there driving McLarens and she’s faster than him on our drive days at Fuji Raceway.

The 750S really has taken McLaren to a completely new level. I think people are sitting up now and saying to themselves, “What am I really looking for in the super-sports car class?” – and it’s something really engaging that suits [their] lifestyle. I think that’s what’s attracting them to McLaren.  

The capability of this car has just elevated what people had already thought was a brilliant thing in the 720S to a new level of appreciation for the brand.

MORE: 2024 McLaren 750S review