McLaren Automotive is to open a new Composites Technology Centre close to the campus of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield in the UK.
Built with support from Sheffield City Council, the £50m (US62m) facility will be responsible for the development and manufacturing of the Monocell and Monocage carbon fiber chassis in future McLaren cars. This next-generation Monocell will be built using advanced automated manufacturing techniques developed in conjunction with the AMRC.
Construction on the new facility, which will be housed in a 7,000m² building set over four acres, is due to start in early 2017 with the first pre-production carbon fiber chassis expected to be delivered to the McLaren Technology Centre in the second half of 2017. Trial manufacturing processes will be used in the AMRC before going into full production by 2020.
More than 200 jobs will be created at the center, which is designed to enable cost savings of around £10m (US$12.5m) when compared with costs of today, and create £100m (US$125m) of GVA (gross value added) benefit to the local economy by 2028.
Written by Rachel Evans
February 13, 2017
