McLaren Announce Brand Changes

McLaren announced today some changes to the names of the group's companies, stating the changes are part of a new brand strategy that has been confirmed by all shareholders of McLaren.

The TAG McLaren Group of companies will, with immediate effect, assume the new name of the McLaren Group, a statement said, stating the change follows on from the increasing prominence and reputation of the McLaren brand and its importance in the Group's activities, as witnessed by the continued success of its Formula One racing team and the high profile McLaren F1 and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren high performance road cars.

The company said the change has been made with the full support of the Group's three shareholders: DaimlerChrysler AG; TAG Group (Holdings) SA; and Ron Dennis, CBE.

In line with the new brand strategy, some of the Group's companies' names will change, either with immediate effect or following their migration to the McLaren Technology Centre, the Group's new corporate headquarters. These other name changes are as follows:

TAG McLaren Holdings Limited, the Group's holding company, will change its name to McLaren Group Limited.

McLaren International, the Group's Formula One racing operation, will be renamed McLaren Racing.

The Group's electronics subsidiary will change its name from TAG Electronic Systems to McLaren Electronic Systems.

The name of the Group's marketing subsidiary will change from TAG McLaren Marketing Services to McLaren Marketing.

During 2004 two new businesses will also be created: McLaren Applied Technologies; and McLaren Heritage. The former will seek to exploit in industrial and consumer applications the automotive technologies that are developed within the Group. The latter will form a focus for the optimum utilisation of the Group's racing and automotive heritage.

"We are currently in the process of moving to our new corporate headquarters and Research and Development facility, the 'McLaren Technology Centre', and decided that this would be a good time to review our brand and naming strategy," explained McLaren Group Chairman & CEO, Ron Dennis. "The strategy of focussing on our core automotive business means that it is entirely logical to emphasise the McLaren aspect of our heritage.

"We are honoured that the TAG name has played such a strong part in our success over the years and that TAG retains its long-term commitment to the Group but McLaren is now such a strong brand in its own right that all of our shareholders believe that the name should be at the forefront of our brand strategy. We have used this opportunity to modernise some of the company names and to update some of our graphical identity.

"I am proud that the McLaren Group is renowned for the high quality of its presentation and its attention to detail, and very much hope that these changes will be seen as consistent with that approach."