Men only: McLaren’s new supercar

McLaren says it has more than 20 orders and up to 60 keen prospects in Australia for its new Ferrari-rivalling supercar - and all of them are male.

The company that has been synonymous with Formula One racing for decades officially launched its new MP4-12C in Sydney today, but says it has yet to attract a female buyer for the supercar that is expected to cost about half a million dollars.

"So far we have 100 per cent male buyers," says Greg Duncan, the executive chairman of Trivett, the prestige automotive dealer group that will sell McLaren's supercars in Australia. "That's probably more so than other brands [such as Ferrari and Aston Martin].

"We're finding well-informed private buyers not looking for a profile. They're sports car enthusiasts, they're knowledgeable buyers, though not necessarily F1 aficionados."

McLaren and Trivett are staging an evening launch function tonight in Sydney, and they admit the guest list of about 170 people is also predominantly male.

The MP4-12C is McLaren's first in-house supercar since the F1 that became the world's fastest production car in the 1990s. The company later built the SLR supercar for F1 engine partner Mercedes-Benz.

The F1 was limited to just 106 cars, however, and McLaren is aiming for 4000 annual units once it expands the range over the next few years with models that will sit below and above the MP4-12C.

Trivett is projecting it can sell about 60-70 McLarens a year in Australia once the full range of supercars is available.

The company says its 2011 allocation will be between 12 and 15 MP4s, rising to about 40 in 2012.

McLaren's regional director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, Ian Gorsuch, says pricing for the MP4-12C should be confirmed by next month and that it will be about the $500,000 mark.

He says the company doesn't want to tip-off rivals too early with first deliveries of the MP4-12C due in December.

"Revealing your cards too early is not a good thing, but it would be naive of us to say we're not in a world of brands.

"But we will have a lighter, faster car than Ferrari. We believe the [price] positioning will be about the 458."

Trivett says the sales battle between the MP4-12C and 458, which costs from $526,950, could be affected by the on-track performances of McLaren and Ferrari in Formula One.

"I think [on-track] success has to help [sales of the McLaren]," says Duncan. "It has helped Ferrari."

Interestingly, McLaren's first Australian showroom, which should be ready by November, will be positioned just down the road from Ferrari's flagship dealership in Sydney's inner-west.

Trivett says a McLaren sales and service is being set-up in Melbourne for the first half of 2012.