McLaren Automotive Newest Member to Join AIAM

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc. (AIAM) today announced that McLaren Automotive, Ltd., has become the automotive trade association's newest member.

"We're pleased to have a company with such a prestigious history of automotive design, engineering and specialty construction as the newest addition to our membership," said Michael J. Stanton, President and CEO of AIAM. "As automakers prepare new products for the American market where regulatory changes are taking place at the fastest pace in recent memory, they are finding great value in the professional representation AIAM provides in protecting and promoting their interests at the state and federal levels."

"McLaren is embarking on an ambitious program to develop a range of compact, premium and highly efficient sports cars that also offer performance levels at a much lower cost than the market currently offers," said Anthony Joseph, McLaren Automotive's North America Regional Director. "The first car in this range, the MP4-12C, has been designed from scratch to be the safest, most efficient, most practical, yet best performing car in its market segment, and the U.S. is one of our major target markets. We believe AIAM will provide us with access to pertinent information, archival databases and expert staff to support our introduction into one of the largest motor vehicle markets in the world."

About AIAM - The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc. (AIAM) is a trade association representing 14 international motor vehicle manufacturers who account for 40 percent of all passenger cars and light trucks sold annually in the United States. AIAM provides members with information, analysis and advocacy on a wide variety of legislative and regulatory issues impacting the auto sector. The Association is dedicated to the promotion of free trade and to policies that enhance motor vehicle safety and the protection of the environment. Member companies include Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Kia, McLaren Automotive, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. For more information, visit our website at www.aiam.org.

About McLaren - McLaren Automotive is an independent company based at the headquarters of the McLaren Group in Woking, England. It has been designing and building iconic, technologically advanced high-performance sports cars in limited runs for nearly 20 years, beginning in the early 1990s with the McLaren F1, still considered by many to be the world's best road-legal sports car. The F1 project resulted in just over 100 road-going and racing car derivatives, including a debut victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1995, and the world's fastest production car. Following the success of the F1, McLaren then designed and built the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and with just over 2000 models produced up to the end of the program in late-2009, it became the world's most successful premium sports car for sales in the $500,000 price region. In 2010, production will begin of the first in a new range of high-performance sports cars, the MP4-12C, that will be sold globally by McLaren Automotive retail partners. The McLaren Group also includes McLaren Racing, the world's most successful motor racing team, having competed and won on numerous occasions in Formula 1, Indy, Can-Am and GT racing.

SOURCE Association of International Automobile Manufacturers