Manufacturer of rubber tracks and tires.

TORRANCE, Calif. - McLaren Industries, a manufacturer of rubber tracks and tires for construction machinery, has established a sponsorship agreement with Art Seeger Racing, an ARCA RE/MAX Series racing team. Per the agreement, Art Seeger Racing will prominently display McLaren’s name and logo on its participating car during this year’s Pocono 200 race, June 7th at the Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

“More and more, McLaren is establishing itself as a leading manufacturer of high performance industrial tires and tracks for compact construction equipment,” said George Zafirov, marketing manager for McLaren. “And what better way to exemplify our ‘high performance’ products than by sponsoring a leading team in the high performance sport of auto racing.”

But the choice of sponsoring Art Seeger Racing is much more than just “hood” deep. In fact, Art Seeger owns a national undercarriage distribution company called SR Industries, Toms River, N.J., which has recently become a new distributor of McLaren products and can be reached at (732) 766-2109.

“I’m very excited to have McLaren on board with Art Seeger Racing for this year’s race at Pocono,” said Art Seeger. “I know that we will put on a great show for all the McLaren employees and create some great promotional items in the process. I’m also proud that SR Industries will be associated with McLaren, a leader in the rubber tire and track industry. This business alliance has truly created a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

The Pocono 200 will be televised live on the Speed channel. Promotional items featuring both McLaren’s and SR Industries’ graphics will be available at the race and on the McLaren Website - www.McLarenUSA.com.

Art Seeger has been involved in motor sports since 1974 and has more than 20 years of driving experience. His accomplishments include 36 wins, 73 top-5 finishes and 93 top-10s across several racing series. During last year’s Pocono 200, he was running in the top 5 before breaking an oil pump belt.

McLaren USA expects continued sales growth in 2008. With a downturn in the market, and recession on the horizon, McLaren has managed to outpace the industry and its own New Year expectations. McLaren CEO Richardson Doyle explains, "We are really happy but not really surprised!  Over the last three years we've increased our R&D budget, expanded our international coverage, and invested heavily in improved manufacturing.  The truth is that more and more customers are choosing quality over price, and quality is what McLaren is best known for."  

McLaren's biggest boost in sales comes from customers who have been unsatisfied and disappointed with other suppliers. As Mr. Doyle explains, "Too many skid steer, track loader and excavator owners have been burned by a number of rubber track distributors selling poor quality products with poor customer service support, and they are tired of it! A great rubber track and a bad rubber track both look fabulously the same when new, but after use for a few hundred hours the customers understand what they've really purchased. And many are bitterly disappointed. We simply provide an alternative."

Over the past 3 years McLaren moved the majority of its production from China and Korea to its new facility in Thailand. This decision was based upon quality and production limitations. Thailand was chosen because of its abundance of natural rubber, modern industrial estates, and access to a very detail oriented workforce. "McLaren took a big step forward when it decided to open its new, state of the art manufacturing facility in Thailand," Mr. Doyle adds.

The new facility is located in a large modern industrial estate alongside US giants such as GM and Ford, which gives McLaren access to better utilities at a very competitive price.  The new location allows for the production of better quality rubber products at a lower cost, with less impact to the environment. Mr. Doyle elaborates, "One of our major benefits is the access to natural gas pipelines. While most of our competitors are burning coal and heavy oil, we're keeping our carbon footprint to a minimum by using highly efficient natural gas boilers. It’s environmentally friendly and cheaper!"

McLaren's new Next Generation TDF rubber track, designed specifically for track loaders, is a major success for the facility in Thailand. TDF stands for Technology, Design, and Formulation.  The sales of NextGen TDF, as the track is also called for short, have significantly increased even though the pricing is 15%- 20% more than rubber tracks offered by competing suppliers or by using McLaren's older technology. McLaren's CEO Richardson Doyle explains, "NextGen TDF costs 20-30% more to produce than the competition's products from Korea and China, but you are really getting a 100% better track. Better technolgy, design and rubber compound formulation are the key for our success! Customers who have used TDF are coming back after the first set, and buying more TDFs for their entire track loader fleet, that's telling you something!"

McLaren hopes to continue its success in 2008 based on the foundation of quality products and service and on the realization that all customers eventually realize who offers the best value.

Sunbelt Rentals, the second largest equipment rental company in the U.S. with a network of over 450 branches, including 100 Sunbelt at Lowe’s, in 35 states and the District of Columbia has chosen McLaren Industries as a preferred vendor for rubber tracks for mini-excavators and track loader machines.

In excellence, McLaren Industries has serviced for many years the rental industry with products designed to reduce maintenance costs. McLaren's nationwide presence and next-day delivery capabilities have allowed the company to surpass the service expectations of the largest rental chains. The unique footprint of our dense distribution network allows us to service hundreds of chain locations equally well.

“We know that rental customers sometimes abuse the equipment. Typically that results in increased maintenance costs for the rental companies. McLaren is built on the concept of fighting downtime. Our product philosophy to reduce downtime and maintain cost makes us the perfect fit for the rental industry”, says George Zafirov, McLaren’s Marketing Manager. “Our success with the rental companies is a direct result of our concentrated effort to service that industry. We have established a designated Rental Team within our organization, whose responsibility is to focus on the needs of the equipment rental businesses.”

For more information on how McLaren reduces downtime in the rental industry, call the McLaren Rental Team at 1-800-836-0040, Ext. 1800.