McLaren has officially confirmed that its three UK dealers will be located in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

AM previously reported back in April the locations of the dealerships but McLaren still hasn’t revealed what dealers will be taking on the franchise. A decision is expected within the next couple of weeks.

Sytner, HR Owen, Jardine Motors could be possible fits for the McLaren brand.

Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive’s managing director, said: “We have proposed sensible, but high quality, expectations from our preferred retail partners and have been amazed at some of the proposals presented by potential retailers: nearly half are building brand new flagship showrooms.

“We will offer the retailers a unique focus on the customer, supporting them far more than is typical after a sale has been completed. We have a phrase at McLaren that sums up our attitude and appeals to the retail business: sanity, not vanity.”

Over 600 automotive businesses have been considered to be McLaren Automotive retailers; McLaren pre-selected 100 preferred partners to review, with a further 500 making direct approaches to McLaren following the announcement of the company’s business plans in September 2009.

The 12C, the first in the company’s new range of high-performance sports cars, goes on sale from spring 2011. Up to 1,000 12Cs will be manufactured and delivered in 2011. Of the 19 countries launching the 12C in 2011, the USA, UK, and Germany will be the company’s biggest markets.

Between 300 and 400 cars are planned for North America, 400 to 500 for Europe, and 100 to 200 each for the Middle-East/South Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

Over 2,500 ‘prospects’ have registered ‘expressions of interest to purchase’ on www.mclarenautomotive.com.

McLaren Automotive’s long-term strategy is to sell a range of 4,000 units a year that will account for between three and four percent of the annual global market for premium sports cars.

McLaren Automotive’s aim is for its global network to remain “smaller, more flexible, and more profitable than competitors’ networks”.