Mike Flewitt replaces Antony Sheriff as head of McLaren Automotive

McLaren Automotive has announced the appointment of Mike Flewitt as Chief Executive Officer, taking over full time from former Managing Director Antony Sheriff.

Sheriff, who’s been on leave since earlier this year, was absent from the Geneva motor show and is understood to have now left the company. McLaren meanwhile continue to deny his departure but there was no mention of Sheriff in McLaren’s official press statement.

Flewitt, who joined McLaren Automotive in May of 2012, was previously Chief Operating Officer. During Sheriff’s absence he stood in as Managing Director, and now with his appointment as CEO his previous role of COO has been dissolved.

Ron Dennis, Chairman of McLaren Automotive said: “Mike has proven to be an automotive professional of the highest calibre and since joining the company one year ago he has contributed significantly to the delivery of the McLaren Automotive vision.”

“The company has already achieved a great deal, including launching three of the world’s most exciting high performance sports cars, establishing a global dealer network and developing the world class McLaren Production Centre.”

“McLaren Automotive has laid solid foundations for a great future and I am confident that as CEO Mike will play a major role in helping the company to achieve its potential.”

Before joining McLaren, Flewitt held senior manufacturing and operations roles with Ford, TWR, AutoNova AB, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars.

Commenting on his appointment, Flewitt said: “In the year I have been with McLaren, we have launched the 12C Spider and revealed the McLaren P1™, both outstanding sports cars and testament to the talented and hard-working team I am honoured to be a part of. We have a solid product and business plan in place for the future which I look forward to steering. McLaren is a very exciting place to be right now.”