THE CAR: McLaren MP4-12C

The brand-new MP4-12C supercar from McLaren Automotive will be sold next spring (2011) by a network of dealers in 35 cities in 19 countries across the world, with more to follow in 2012, the British company announced.

McLaren Automotive's initial network will include eight retailers in North America (USA, Canada), 12 in Europe (UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland), two in the Middle-East, and one in Africa (South Africa).

Here's the official list with the cities that will be represented by McLaren retailers:

Europe: Birmingham, London, Manchester; Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich; Brussels; Monaco, Paris; Milan; Barcelona/Madrid; Zurich
North America: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa; Toronto
Middle-East / South Africa: Manama; Doha; Jeddah, Riyadh; Dubai, Abu Dhabi; Kuwait; Johannesburg
Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong; Singapore; Sydney; Tokyo

The company said that it will reveal more details on its first 23 retailers ahead of the MP4-12C's global debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

According to McLaren, between 300 and 400 cars are planned for North America, 400 to 500 for Europe, and 100 to 200 each for the Middle-East/South Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

McLaren chairman Ron Dennis does NOT like Bugatti's Veyron. No really, he utterly hates it. For example, he recently call Bugatti's Veyron a "piece of junk", saying it only beat McLaren's F1 in the famous Abu Dhabi Top Gear race after ten tries.

Dennis vented a bunch in an interview with Arabian Business, and his actual words are decidedly more entertaining than mine.

"The Bugatti Veyron is a complete piece of junk. I think it is. I believe I can look at a range of women and I can see beauty in most of them, but I can look at a Bugatti and I think it is pig ugly."

"The Veyron doesn't do anything for me. I've been looking at it for years, and I don't see one single thing that makes me feel good."

Obviously not, considering it stole your company's top-speed crown...

Regarding the Top Gear drag race, he explains, "When we did the race in Abu Dhabi, we beat it off the line so many times that the film crew was getting frustrated because the outcome was supposed to be for the Bugatti to win."

"We had to do that whole thing about 10 times before it managed to get off the line cleanly and catch us up...Every time they dropped the clutch it bogged down and we were gone."

Hey, everyone's entitled to their opinion, especially when it comes to the competition (that's usually the best kind of opinion). But "pig-ugly junk"? That's a bit harsh. It's not a Sebring.

By Phil Alex

Source: Arabian Business & Reuters , Via: Worldcafans