McLAREN 12C NAMED MIDDLE EAST 'CAR OF THE YEAR'

Playing in the 'premier league' of super sports cars is not easy. So, winning two important awards in this 'premier league' can be considered a big achievement and success.

And this is what McLaren Automotive has achieved when it received two awards, including overall ‘Car of the Year’, for its debut model, the 12C, at the 2012 Middle East Motor Awards (MEMA).

The 12C was rated ahead of almost 50 car models across 17 categories, including some of the world’s top supercar models, by a jury panel comprising of the region’s top automotive experts, including Auto Arabia's editor Mohamed Sheta who represents Egypt in this award.

The Middle East Motor Awards are the region’s most prestigious automotive accolades, judged by a jury panel that includes 17 of the region’s most influential motoring journalists from nine countries.

This is the first year a McLaren model has taken part in the awards, and the 12C was named ‘Best Supercar’, before being crowned with the overall title of ‘Car of the Year’. These honours cap a successful first year of sales across the world for the brand.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, organiser Saif Al Midfa, Director General of Expo Centre Sharjah: “The 12C is a clear winner for ‘Car of the Year’. McLaren’s debut model is a stunning car and worthy of making the ultimate wish list for any automotive fan.”

Mark Harrison, Regional Director for Middle East and Africa said: “To win ‘Best Supercar’ in the Middle East is an amazing achievement coming in our very first full year as a luxury sports car manufacturer. But to win the overall ‘Car of the Year’ title is unbelievable.”

“It is a great reward for all the skilled and passionate designers and engineers back at McLaren and our retail partners in the region who have worked incredibly hard to launch the brand. But the real winners, I believe, are our first customers. They are driving the Middle East’s ‘Car of the Year’.”

McLaren had organized a special test-drive event in Manama (Bahrain) where the jury members had the chance to get behind the wheel of the 12C and learn more about the company, its philosophy and its goal and ambition to become one of the most successful manufacturers of super sports cars worldwide.

McLaren Automotive strives to be at the forefront of innovation; this is what has enabled McLaren to win one in every four of the Formula 1 races in which they have entered since first competing in the sport nearly 50 years ago. The 12C also benefits from this race-winning technology with features such as the pioneering Brake Steer and carbon fibre MonoCell which allow the 12C to offer dynamic driving capabilities unlike any other car in its segment.

The 12C was launched in the Middle East in November 2011, and has since achieved sales of over 1,000 cars worldwide, and more than 100 in the Middle East. McLaren Automotive’s Middle East retail network of specialist, luxury automotive retailers is located in prestigious venues across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and there is also a service centre in Lebanon.

The 2012 McLaren 12C proved during the short test-drive I had in Bahrain that it definitely has the potential to play in the 'premier league' of the super sport cars.

Stay tuned for another unique test-drive with the 2013 McLaren 12C and the 2013 McLaren 12C Spider very soon, here on autoarabia.org

MS
Cairo - Dubai - Woking
29.11.2012 (updated 18.12.2012)