Luxury sports car manufacturer McLaren Group is facing further financial pressures, as a result of slow sales and supply chain bottlenecks, with a recapitalization of the business now likely in early 2023.

In a report issued on December 13, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said that the auto group’s majority shareholder, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat, had provided some £224 million ($279 million) in support since the summer.

That came in two tranches, with £125 million of support in July / August and a further £100 million in November. Despite the injection of capital, S&P said McLaren’s “liquidity remains strained”, amid lower-than-expected sales.

The November support came after the sale by Mumtalakat of some of its heritage cars to support the group.

S&P predicted that the sports car group’s sales volumes would decrease in 2022 compared to 2021, due to delays in the delivery of its Artura model and supply chain bottlenecks for semiconductor chips and batteries which has been holding up production. The latter issue has been affecting the entire auto industry.

McLaren’s vehicles sell for an average of around £300,000 each. It said in late November that it had orders for more than 2,200 cars at the end of September, more than half of which are for the Artura model.

Sales in the first nine months of the year amounted to 1,359…