Strategic upgrade to US imports
McLaren invests in VPC at Baltimore port with Tradepoint Atlantic
McLaren partners with Tradepoint Atlantic to establish a 4,600 sq.m vehicle processing centre at Sparrow’s Point, streamlining North American distribution and value-added services.
Sportscar maker McLaren is investing $10.5m in a new vehicle processing centre (VPC) at the US port of Baltimore. The 4,600 sq.m VPC is being developed in partnership with Tradepoint Atlantic, the logistics property developer and terminal operator, at its Sparrow’s Point facility. McLaren, The Americas will directly provide custom vehicle processing and accessorisation services.
Baltimore is McLaren’s exclusive port of entry for all cars coming to the US and Canada. The company currently has a facility at the Dundalk Marine Terminal, which it has used since it started importing cars into the US in 2011. It plans to relocate operations the five miles to the Sparrows Point facility when it opens in Q4, 2026. As a McLaren operated VPC, McLaren will employ its own team to run operations.
“McLaren will offer a full suite of services, including a wide range of premium vehicle accessories and services,” said a spokesperson for McLaren. “These will be added and installed at port and delivered to customers as ordered. The full selection of options will be announced for each model year once the centre is operational.”
The US is McLaren’s biggest export market and in 2024 it delivered approximately 1,500 cars in 2024 and expects the volume to be broadly the same this year.
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“The new McLaren VPC will enable us to fully check and sign off every single car, install local accessory packs, and bring full paint protection film instalment directly on site, with the additional bonus of helping to revitalise a brownfield site,” said Nicolas Brown, president of McLaren, The Americas.
According to McLaren, the VPC will provide jobs for highly skilled automotive technicians, paint, logistics and management personnel, as well as demand for vehicle transport services to McLaren retailers across North America. McLaren, The Americas currently distributes cars to our US dealer network with McCollister’s Transport and Inter-City Transport. Finished vehicles bound for Canada are transported by Harman Group.
McLaren said it has invested more than $100m in high-tech sales and servicing facilities over the past several years, including $20m its largest sales and service point in Orlando, Florida.
