Last year, Audi reportedly bought McLaren outright. However, shortly after that report the British supercar maker denied the claim outright. It wasn’t entirely without merit, though, as Audi had been in talks to either buy McLaren or buy a large stake in it, mostly to gain a large stake in Mclaren’s F1 team. Now, though, it’s being reported that Audi is increasing its initial offer to buy a large stake in McLaren up to 650 million euros.
The report comes from Automobilwoche, who didn’t name any sources, and has yet to be confirmed by either Audi or McLaren. Back when the original, and false, report broke last year, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said the F1 team was not for sale but he did then admit to having discussions with Audi.
Also according to the report, Audi and McLaren plan on signing a letter of intent later this month, so that the two brands can continue to work out an agreement. Though it could get a bit complicated.
Apparently McLaren and BMW AG have been in talks to develop a joint electric sports car architecture, which would make sense given both brands worked together on the McLaren F1. Though, it’s said that such an agreement could be voided if McLaren and Audi come to an agreement.
If Audi buys a large stake in McLaren, it will mostly be for the F1 team, though it’s unclear if Audi will buy only the F1 team or part of the road car company as well. The latter would be awesome, as it would give Audi another supercar partner, after having owned Lamborghini for decades, to help develop future electric supercars. At the very least, though, it seems that Audi will buy into McLaren’s F1 team, which will act as its entry point into the sport. While nothing is official just yet, these rumors have been circulating, and growing, for months. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
[Source: Bloomberg]
