Today sees first blood to McLaren against Ferrari with the announcement that their new MP4-12C supercar will cost £168,500 when it goes on sale in the first half of 2011.
Importantly, the McLaren price tag is inclusive of the new 20% VAT rate due to come into effect at the beginning of 2011, whereas Ferrari’s £169,546 458 Italia is at the present 17.5% VAT rate, with Ferrari likely to raise the price of the 458 when the 2.5% rate increase is implemented.
In Ferrari’s defence, the MP4-12C price tag does not include first registration fee or the first year of road tax (£1,005 collectively), nor does it include ceramic brakes (a £9,770 option) unlike every new Ferrari model on sale today.
What we’re saying then are that these are ultimately tiny price differences in a premium market with low price elasticity. When these two machines go head to head is when we’ll really see who is top dog, England or Italy. We can’t wait.
Written By

Rick Osborn
Rick has met and interviewed many well known names in the world of film, music and sport. He brings his enthusiasm for cars, technology and social media to SkiddMark.
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