How McLaren’s boss went from a flop to the fast lane

McLaren had a history of failure when it came to on-road cars, but CEO Mike Flewitt took on the challenge.

“I’d always wanted to take something in the UK and make it a competitor to Ferrari and Porsche”: Englishman Mike Flewitt scored his dream job when he became CEO of McLaren in 2013. Louie Douvis

Tony DavisMotoring writer

Mar 13, 2020 – 9.00am

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Mike Flewitt was once near the very top of the automotive industry. He’d risen from the factory floor to running Ford Motor Company’s manufacturing in Europe, building 9000 cars a day across 23 factories.

Yet he walked away to join a sports car outfit that would, if the sheer weight of history was anything to go by, almost certainly fail. Ninety-nine per cent of carmakers go belly up, and the one he agreed to join, McLaren Automotive, was already in trouble.