McLaren can take a page out of Porsche and Bentley’s book
Unlike supercar rivals Lamborghini and Ferrari, McLaren has so far resisted the temptation to jump on the SUV bandwagon. It’s simply been viewed as too much of a leap from the British marque’s lightweight, performance-focused ethos.
But to retain profitability, it’s hard for any automotive company to limit itself to low-volume, impractical exotics like the 750S, no matter how spectacular they are to drive. Nick Collins, McLaren CEO, is aware of this, and just revealed that a more practical McLaren is on the way. Whether it’s an SUV is still unconfirmed, though, but the evidence suggests this would be a wise business decision.
CEO Confirms More Diverse Portfolio
McLaren underwent a change of ownership earlier this year, being acquired by CYVN. In the process, the brand merged with Forseven, an electric car startup from the UK. That led to Collins taking over as McLaren’s new CEO, and he’s now tasked with optimizing the company’s lineup of vehicles to achieve more wide-ranging appeal and greater profitability.
Part of this process will be to enter segments not typically associated with McLaren, which focuses almost exclusively on high-performance track weapons and the odd grand tourer.
“We know—give or take 10 percent—everything we’ll do through 2030, and we have a design model of everything,” said Collins when speaking to Car Magazine. There will be more of what we’ve always done, but even better, and then entry to some adjacent segments. You’ll definitely see something with more than two seats, but that still leaves us in quite a wide territory.”
While “something with more than two seats” isn’t explicit confirmation of an SUV, it does point to the company’s plans to introduce a more practical model than anything else it sells right now. A coupe-style 2+2 is also possible.
Potential McLaren SUV Could Be Electric
There are a few reasons that an electric McLaren SUV is a strong candidate to be added to the range. For starters, CYVN also owns a stake in Nio, a Chinese EV carmaker, giving McLaren access to advanced electric powertrain/platform technologies.
Forseven’s engineering team also previously developed plans for a luxury EV in the mold of a Range Rover, as per Auto Express. Since that brand won’t launch its own EV, the foundation is there to merge Forseven and Nio’s expertise with McLaren’s goals to create a new McLaren electric SUV. However, there is also the possibility for a hybrid SUV.
“I believe every brand must have a multi-propulsion future,” said Collins. The pace of regulatory change and consumer adoption is different in different parts of the world. Are we going to make McLaren an all-electric brand? Absolutely not.”
An SUV Could Be McLaren’s Porsche Cayenne Moment
We’ve seen more than one example of how an SUV can provide the financial stability required to keep high-end automakers afloat. Consider Porsche, which saw sales plummet in the early 1990s, partly due to a range of expensive sports cars and time-consuming production processes. The cheaper Boxster helped right the ship, and the arrival of the Cayenne in 2002 became the volume seller Porsche needed.
Bentley saw much the same success when it launched the Bentayga in 2015, which has remained its top-selling model globally. It provided the sort of stability that allowed Bentley to continue crafting aspirational models like the coachbuilt Batur.
An SUV, be it a gas, hybrid or electric model, could play a similar role for McLaren. In an era where even Lotus has an SUV, it’s a move that doesn’t seem nearly as farfetched as it once did.
