The Driving Force Behind McLaren

CEO Mike Flewitt Talks Increased Production, Accessibility And How It Feels To Drive Some Of The World’S Most Luxurious Sports Cars.

- Jordan Murray

Mike Flewitt is steeped in the culture of sports cars. Having begun his career more than 35 years ago in a Ford assembly plant, his array of directorships and management positions span some of the industry’s most well-respected names, including Volvo and Rolls-Royce. Surprisingly though, despite being a self-professed “petrolhead”, he shares in conversation with The CEO Magazine that the most important thing he’s learned in the industry isn’t related to cars; it’s engaging with his customers and business partners.

“Wherever I go, I go out of my way to do three things,” he says. “First, I make the time to meet with the media. Second, I meet with our customers. Third, I meet with our local partners and dealers.” Even if he’s only somewhere for a day, Mike says he finds time for all three in his schedule, because “it’s vital that we’re close with and work on the relationships we have with our retailers throughout every region”.

Besides building what he thinks are “the best cars in the world”, Mike says it’s important to build and maintain relationships with customers and distributors. “If we have that, then people will come back to us and keep buying our cars. Even if it’s just one customer, that person will come back. For example, I had dinner recently with a customer in Hong Kong. He told me that in seven years of selling cars, he’s bought seven of our cars. I think that’s just amazing.”

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