McLaren has confirmed that Michael Hugo Leiters, who used to work for Porsche and was the CTO of Ferrari until the end of 2021, has been hired as the company’s new chief executive officer.
Carscoops believes that the appointment signals about McLaren’s plans to merge with Audi. The latter company, which is a part of Volkswagen Group like Porsche, had been looking into buying a share in the British automaker.
Former McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt retired in last October. Leiters will proceed to his post on July 1, 2022. Back in Ferrari, he supervised two hybrid supercar projects: the range-topping SF90 Stradale and the 296 GTB, which was the marque’s first V6-based hybrid. In his Porsche days, Leiters headed the SUV division and played a significant part in the launch of the Cayenne.
In all likelihood, the first goal of the new McLaren CEO will be to ensure that the Artura hybrid sports car reaches production. The car, which can be found in the gallery and the video here, debuted in last February, but never went into production due to supply shortages.
There is also an opinion that Michael Leiters may affect the relations between McLaren and Audi. Reports earlier this month stated that the German automaker raised its stake acquisition offer to McLaren from the original €450 million to €650 million.