VS Series
Aston Martin v McLaren
Two British supercar makers with F1 teams bearing their names. How do their accounts compare?
McLaren Automotive leads on pre-tax profit, profit margin and growth; Aston Martin on turnover and net assets. Aston Martin is the biggest by turnover at £1,258m, against £694m at McLaren Automotive. Both lost money; McLaren Automotive lost the least, £19.48 of every £100 it took.
The year ends are up to 12 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Aston Martin files group accounts that include subsidiaries; McLaren Automotive files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Aston Martin to Dec 2025 · McLaren Automotive to Dec 2024
Who they are
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC · 11488166Aston Martin Lagonda makes luxury sports cars and SUVs under the Aston Martin name, including the Vantage, DB12, Vanquish and DBX, with its headquarters and main factory at Gaydon in Warwickshire and a second factory at St Athan in Wales.In brief: luxury sports car maker · built at Gaydon and St Athan · listed in London · Formula One team is separateFull profile →McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive Limited · 01967717McLaren Automotive designs, builds and sells McLaren supercars from its base in Woking, Surrey, through a network of retailers worldwide, including tailor-made cars from its McLaren Special Operations division.In brief: supercar maker · designs and builds in Woking · separate from the F1 team · owned from Abu DhabiFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Aston Martin
£1,258m
Most pre-tax profit
McLaren Automotive
-£135m
Smallest loss
McLaren Automotive
-19.5%
Fastest-growing turnover
McLaren Automotive
+84.0%
Biggest employer
Aston Martin
2,906 staff
Highest pay per head
Aston Martin
£91,000
Most turnover per head
Aston Martin
£433,000
Largest net assets
Aston Martin
£316m
Most cash
Aston Martin
£250m
The Takeaway
- McLaren Automotive loses the least. Of every £100 it takes, it loses £19.48, against a loss of £28.93 at Aston Martin.
- Aston Martin is the largest on the top line, £1,258m of turnover, 1.8x McLaren Automotive's £694m.
- McLaren Automotive is growing fastest, turnover +84.0% on its own prior year. Aston Martin went backwards.
- Aston Martin is the biggest employer with 2,906 people; Aston Martin pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £91,000.
- Aston Martin has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £316m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Every company here made a loss. McLaren Automotive lost the least, £19.48 of every £100 of turnover. Aston Martin does worst, losing £28.93.
Financing bites hardest at Aston Martin: £13.56 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Aston Martin (£1,258m), McLaren Automotive (£694m).
By headcount, Aston Martin leads with 2,906 employees.
The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: Aston Martin to Dec 2025, McLaren Automotive to Dec 2024. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
McLaren Automotive grew fastest, turnover +84.0% on its own prior year, ahead of Aston Martin (-20.6%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Aston Martin employs the most, 2,906 people, against 2,251 at McLaren Automotive.
Aston Martin has the highest average staff cost, about £91,000 a head; McLaren Automotive the lowest, about £51,000.
Aston Martin brings in the most turnover per employee, about £433,000, against £308,000 at McLaren Automotive. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.
Who owns Aston Martin →
McLaren Automotive Limited · 01967717Held by Mclaren Automotive Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 3 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns McLaren Automotive →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Aston Martin | McLaren Automotive |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA GLOBAL HOLDINGS PLC | MCLAREN AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED |
| Company number | 11488166 | 01967717 |
| Incorporated | 2018 | 1985 |
| Accounts filed | 20 May 2026 | 10 October 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £1,584m | £377m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | -£289m | -£843m |
| Staff costs | £265m | £114m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 21.1% | 16.4% |
| Employees, prior year | 2,920 | 2,187 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 3 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Aston Martin v McLaren: common questions
Who is the biggest of Aston Martin or McLaren Automotive?
Aston Martin, with turnover of £1,258m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
McLaren Automotive: the smallest loss, -£135m pre-tax in the year to December 2024.
Which employs the most people?
Aston Martin, with 2,906 employees in its latest accounts.
Aston Martin or McLaren Automotive: which is bigger?
Aston Martin, with turnover of £1,258m against £694m at McLaren Automotive on their latest filings. On margin, McLaren Automotive keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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