Bowers & Wilkins, the renowned high-end audio brand, together with luxury supercar maker and Formula 1 team McLaren, today announce an extension to their strategic long-term multi-year partnership which sees Bowers & Wilkins become Official Audio Partner across McLaren Automotive and the McLaren Formula 1 Team.
This new partnership chapter continues the decade-long collaboration between McLaren Automotive and Bowers & Wilkins. Since 2015, Bowers & Wilkins has been a partner in the development of high-performance audio systems for McLaren supercars, bringing cutting-edge sound performance. Bowers & Wilkins’ relentless pursuit of perfection, inspired by founder John Bowers, mirrors the unyielding precision and performance demanded in Formula 1 racing. McLaren’s own unrelenting approach was born of visionary founder Bruce McLaren’s desire to design and build the world’s most accomplished racing cars. Both brands’ determination to exceed the limits of what is possible is evident in their respective approaches to performance and design excellence.
The McLaren Automotive partnership is built on firm technical foundations. Bowers & Wilkins’ revered engineering team work closely with counterparts at McLaren Automotive to create and optimise the audio system found in the company’s supercars, including the recently announced McLaren W1. The W1’s audio system features premium audio technology designed to integrate into the interior’s InnoKnit fabric and carbon fibre architecture, utilising the very latest advanced speaker technologies developed in Southwater, home to the Bowers & Wilkins research and development team and only 30 miles away from the McLaren Technology Centre.
Related
“Exceptional audio performance is key to further enriching the engagement of a McLaren. Specialist engineers from McLaren Automotive and Bowers & Wilkins have worked in partnership since 2015 to develop and deliver the sound technologies that ensure the levels of audio system excellence our customer’s demand. ”Henrik Wilhelmsmeyer, Chief Commercial Officer, McLaren Automotive.
By extending the partnership into the McLaren Formula 1 Team, the brands are further highlighting the depth of their relationship. Building on a successful award-winning range of co-designed products, including the Px8 McLaren Edition and Zeppelin McLaren Edition, new projects are in development to further appeal to the Formula 1 team’s substantial global fanbase.
Additionally, Bowers & Wilkins products will play a crucial role in the team’s extensive travel, relaxation and pre-race preparation needs throughout the season.
“We’re delighted to welcome Bowers & Wilkins to McLaren Racing, building on their partnership with McLaren Automotive. Both brands share a commitment to innovation and technical excellence, and we look forward to creating exciting new products for our fans together.” Nick Martin, Co-Chief Commercial Officer, McLaren Racing
Speaking on behalf of Bowers & Wilkins, Tom Henderson, Marketing Director for Licensing and Partnerships, said: “We are delighted to continue and build upon our highly successful car audio development programme as well as continuing to explore co-branded product opportunities, building on the success of the Px8 McLaren Edition and Zeppelin McLaren Edition with products and storytelling that connect us to the exciting world of McLaren Racing.”
-ENDS-
About Bowers & Wilkins:
Bowers & Wilkins, founded in the U.K. in 1966, has been at the forefront of high-performance audio technology for more than 50 years. It designs and manufactures precision home speakers, headph1s, custom installation and performance car audio products that set new standards for innovation and sound quality, earning countless awards and accolades from the world’s leading recording studios and musicians. Bowers & Wilkins’ reputation is based on the unwavering pursuit of the best possible sound and an unsurpassable music listening experience. Bowers & Wilkins joined the Sound United LLC family of brands in 2020. Learn more at www.bowerswilkins.com
About McLaren Automotive:
McLaren Automotive is a producer of ultra high-performance, lightweight supercars. Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group. Headquartered at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey, England, McLaren Automotive is driven by the challenge of creating the world’s most exhilarating, engaging and benchmark setting vehicles. Leveraging over 60 years of history in authentic, racing performance, McLaren has delivered some of the most spectacular supercars ever made.
The company’s product portfolio of GTS, supercar, Motorsport and Ultimate models are retailed in over 40 markets around the world. Its cars are assembled by hand at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC), based on the same campus as MTC in Woking. McLaren is a pioneer that continuously pushes the boundaries. In 1981, it introduced lightweight and strong carbon fibre chassis technology into Formula 1 with the McLaren MP4/1.
Then in 1993 it designed and built the legendary McLaren F1 road car. Built around a carbon fibre chassis, it established McLaren’s supercar DNA, realised for the 21st century in 2011 with the introduction of the McLaren 12C – McLaren Automotive’s first production car. McLaren was the first to deliver a hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1™, in 2013. Launching the Ultimate Series of vehicles, P1™ was followed by the McLaren Senna in 2018 and its track-only GTR derivative followed a year later. 2019 also saw the introduction of the Speedtail hybrid hyper-GT and at the end of the year the open-cockpit Elva roadster – the lightest McLaren road car ever – was announced.
McLaren’s LT models represent the ultimate expression of track performance in series production supercars. Limited in volume, they are distinguished by a name coming from the ‘Longtail’ version of the F1 GTR, which first raced in 1997. The LT designation was incorporated into McLaren Automotive nomenclature in 2015 with the arrival of the 675LT coupe and 675LT Spider. In 2018, the McLaren LT portfolio grew with the announcement of the 600LT, and in 2020 and 2021 respectively the 765LT coupe and 765LT Spider were introduced. Also in 2021, the company unveiled its all-new high-performance hybrid supercar, the McLaren Artura. The Artura is the first McLaren to benefit from the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). The MCLA is designed, developed and manufactured at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the Sheffield region of England using world-first processes and will spearhead the brand’s electrified future.
2022 saw McLaren announce the Solus GT, a single-seat, closed-cockpit track car which brought to life a futuristic concept that was originally created for virtual gaming. In 2023, McLaren unveiled its lightest and most powerful series-production supercar, the 750S – a thorough development of the award-winning 720S supercar. McLaren also introduced the new GTS, replacing the McLaren GT. The McLaren Artura Spider was revealed in early 2024 as the brand’s first high-performance hybrid convertible. Its introduction was part of a major model year uplift for the Artura nameplate, and meant McLaren’s series-production line-up of GTS, new Artura and 750S had been introduced within 12 months of each other.
A new chapter in the McLaren ‘1’ car story was announced in October 2024, with the reveal of the McLaren W1 supercar. A clear successor to the McLaren F1 and McLaren P1TM, the W1 is the manifestation of McLaren’s World Championship mindset, with epic power and performance and new heights of dynamic and aerodynamic excellence. McLaren Automotive also chooses to partner with like-minded, world-leading companies and organisations who push the boundaries in their respective fields. These include Ashurst, Bowers & Wilkins, Dynisma, Gulf, Pirelli, Richard Mille and Tumi.
