An army of wealthy petrol-heads will save Britain's supercar brands from an onslaught of Chinese competition, according to the chief executive of McLaren.
Nick Collins said he is confident that the super-rich will remain loyal to UK luxury brands, emboldening him to pursue the most ambitious expansion plan in McLaren's history.
That is far from the bleak reality facing the mainstream European car market, where many motorists are flocking to buy cheap cars imported from China.
Mr Collins said McLaren's focus on the "very specific territory" of the super-rich had helped insulate it from sales pressures that have led to 100,000 job cuts across Europe's automotive sector.
That suggests other luxury UK marques such as Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin and Lotus may also have less to fear from Chinese competitions, as may niche manufacturers like Caterham and Morgan.
Rather than go on the defensive, McLaren last month announced plans to build a second assembly line and launch in-house engine production.
The move, backed by £500m of investment from McLaren's Abu Dhabi wealth-fund owner L'imad Holdings, stands to double manufacturing capacity and create 1,000 new jobs, increasing the workforce by almost 50pc.
By contrast, Nissan has come under siege from China's growing fleet of cheap electric vehicles, while lookalike "Temu Range Rovers" present a threat to Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's biggest carmaker.
JLR has announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs over the next two years, while Nissan's Sunderland plant is preparing to cut 900 roles.
Mr Collins said: "The industry is going through unprecedented change and that means different things for manufacturers operating in different segments.
"Where we are, we still see growth opportunities as we go forward.
"We see growth of high net-worth and ultra-high net-worth individuals around the world and those customers still have a massive passion for what we do."
McLaren's entry-level Artura is priced from £200,000 while the limited-production W1 hybrid hypercar – the successor to the 240mph F1 ranked as the fastest car in the world when it launched 1992 – starts at £1.8m.
The track version of its 2027 Le Mans entry will top £3m, while personalisation options taken up by most buyers can easily add more than £100,000 on top of the base price and are "hugely important", Mr Collins said.
The ability of McLaren customers to afford such expenditure has also provided some defence against tariffs on cars exported to the US , which accounts for half of all sales.
"I don't think anybody particularly likes tariffs," Collins said. "But one of the incredible things with this brand is the overall pricing power."
At the heart of McLaren's growth push is the launch of its first ever SUV.
The firm has produced 25 sports-car models since the F1, while perennially shying away from the booming 4x4 market.
Mr Collins said that has meant missing out on sales that boosted rivals including Lamborghini and Bentley, and that an SUV will appeal to McLaren owners who have never been able to take their families out in their beloved two-seaters.
He said: "There's been a lot of discussion over many years. But fundamentally we believe there is an opportunity to expand our product range. It's a very logical place for us to go into.
"We have four wonderful, two-seat, mid-engine supercars today. But all of our customers have another car for the days when they need more than one passenger."
Following the decision, he said, McLaren owners will no longer need to choose their "favourite child" to sit next to them when out for a spin.
Mr Collins, who joined from Forseven, an electric-vehicle start-up with which CYVN merged McLaren last year, said he is not concerned that aficionados will disapprove of the launch of an SUV.
"In my position, I get the privilege of driving a lot of competitor cars and of course we monitor exactly what everybody else is doing and how they're doing it," he said.
"They've been very successful for those companies. But we will do our SUV in a McLaren way that will be very unique and bring something new to the segment.
"I'm not even slightly worried. As long as you're authentic you have the legitimacy to do lots of different products. If you were inauthentic, that would be very short-sighted."
He added that McLaren was "very advanced" with the SUV after investing heavily in a design centre near Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Mr Collins declined to say what the 4x4 will cost, though it will line up alongside ultra-luxurious SUVs including the Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Aston Martin DBX and Ferrari Pursoangue, which sell for between £180,000 and £350,000.
Meanwhile, McLaren's decision to bring engine production in-house marks another radical departure after the firm previously outsourced production to Ricardo, based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.
While engine production is likely to be located at McLaren's headquarters near Woking, the location of an SUV assembly line will be unveiled in the coming weeks and may be elsewhere.
A factory in Sheffield that makes composite bodies will also double in size.
McLaren is also believed to be working on its first ever front-engined model, and when asked if a four seater was a possibility Collins said: "I can see lots of possibilities for lots of cars."
In tandem with the new factories and models, the chief executive has also launched a rebranding based around the original logo displayed above the family garage in New Zealand where founder Bruce McLaren built the car that took him to his first victory in the 1950s.
He said the move "reconnects McLaren with its origins and creates a stronger shared foundation for what comes next".
McLaren is also reportedly asking dealers to reboot showrooms with wood finishes, warmer lighting and design elements influenced by its Papaya Orange signature colour.
As for the debate over whether to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Mr Collins said there is no easy answer to the conundrum facing the Government.
Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said during a visit to the McLaren factory last month that levies on China could provoke retaliatory steps that would damage Britain's export based industry.
However, Anas Sarwar, the trade minister, said last week that the UK and EU must nevertheless "work together and act in lockstep" to combat the flood of Chinese vehicles.
Mr Collins said that, though Chinese supercar sales have slumped as wealthy consumers avoid conspicuous luxury spending and switch to locally made EVs, the case is far from clear cut.
"We don't frame this as a choice between the two," he said.
"China continues to be an important market for McLaren, supported by a substantial luxury customer base, while Europe remains extremely important both as a market and as part of our supply chain.
"We are in constant dialogue with policymakers to ensure they understand how different choices could affect us as a British manufacturer."
