FORMER Rolls-Royce regional director of Asia-Pacific, Paul Harris, has been appointed managing director of Asia-Pacific (APAC) and China for McLaren Automotive.

His new role is effective immediately and gives him responsibility for the combined regional sales, marketing and operations in an increasingly important set of markets for the supercar specialist.

McLaren said that Mr Harris will manage a diverse portfolio of markets comprising 11 countries and regions including China, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

“Given the growing importance of the region to the company, it was fitting that Pudong, China was where McLaren chose to open its 100th retailer last year as the company reached its milestone first decade as a supercar company,” the car-maker said.

Prior to joining McLaren, Mr Harris was the regional director for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in APAC and has spent more than three and a half decades in the luxury automotive sector.

McLaren Automotive commercial executive director George Biggs said: “In welcoming Paul to McLaren we have someone who has both deep regional knowledge and also someone with vast experience of the luxury automotive sector with valuable insights from both a retailer and customer perspective.

“It is an exciting time to be joining McLaren as we place a renewed emphasis on growing and enhancing our luxury brand around the world which means delivering outstanding products and experiences tailored for regional audiences.”

Mr Harris said: “I am delighted to be joining McLaren and working with our experienced team and retailers, leading the marque’s already impressive drive into the increasingly important Asia Pacific and Chinese markets.

“This exciting and diverse region offers many new opportunities to further expand the McLaren brand and our loyal client base even further with our already impressive products and strong story around the combination of modern hand-built luxury and high technology. I cannot wait to get started.”

McLaren Automotive is a creator of luxury, high-performance supercars. Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group.

By Neil Dowling