The Successor to the SLR McLaren

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WOKING, England — McLaren is working on a successor to the slow-selling Mercedes SLR — and the replacement could be called a McLaren, not a Mercedes. Motorsports Web site GrandPrix.com quotes McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh as saying that the company is working with Mercedes-Benz to develop a new model that will follow the Mercedes-Benz SLR, which is produced at Woking, west of London. Whitmarsh said: "The level of interest in McLaren from Mercedes-Benz is higher than it has ever been. There is a clear commitment to be in F1 in the long term and refreshed interest in road-car activities. I think it is increasingly likely that there will be a range of sports cars designed in Woking in the future." McLaren's Woking center was only opened three years ago. It houses both the McLaren Formula One team and the factory that makes the SLR. What this means to you: The SLR is a superb car but a commercial flop, especially compared with the previous McLaren road car, the F1. A future McLaren is expected to be a true "supercar" like the F1.

- Inside Line