Contrary to popular belief, McLaren->ke284 is setting its sights on targeting Porsche->ke1 customers as opposed to Ferrari->ke252 owners. Anthony Joseph, the company’s chief of its North American division, made that pronouncement, saying that McLaren and Porsche share a common approach in their preference to build cars that promote “substance over style”.

The MP4-12C->ke3514 has already generated a ton of interest from prospective customers and while the cars have yet to be delivered to any owner, the interest is substantial enough – about 2,700 prospective customers – that McLaren is optimistic in meeting its target sales figure of 1,000 models in the supercar’s first year production.

The MP4-12C is set to go on sale at the beginning of next year – the US is expected to start selling them in the summer of 2011 - with a sticker price of $230,000.

Given that Porsche models cost significantly lower than the MP4-12C, we don’t know how successful McLaren is going to be in targeting Porsche owners. But while the price tag may be a little too high, McLaren’s got one thing going for it: the MP4-12C is one sweet ride, and if you’ve got money to buy a Porsche, adding a little more money for the chance to drive home with an MP4-12C should be worth the added expense.

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