McLaren Could Be Jumping on the Exotic Super-SUV Bandwagon

Lamborghini has the Urus, Aston Martin the DBX and Ferrari followed suit with the Purosangue, so your move McLaren.

Close-up of a black McLaren car's aerodynamic engine cover featuring multiple air vents and a transparent section revealing part of the engine, with a carbon fiber textured surface surrounding it.

Published 4 hours ago

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McLaren is looking to go beyond its two-seater supercar offerings with a new four-seater, according to Britain’s CAR magazine. The outlet sat down with CEO Nick Collins to catch up on some of the brand’s latest moves.

Collins didn’t quite go into serious detail as to what that could mean for the exotic carmaker. But circumstantial evidence points to the possibility of an SUV from the brand.

McLaren’s car division has been hemorrhaging money and an SUV could fix that

Three McLaren sports cars are shown from the front in a dimly lit space. The center car is bright orange with sleek, angular headlights and a prominent front grille. On the left is a dark green McLaren with classic rounded headlights and a license plate reading "K8 MCL." On the right is a black McLaren with modern, curved headlights and a license plate reading "PI 00V." The background is plain and dark, emphasizing the cars' shapes and colors. — Breathtaking supercars are what McLaren is known for.

McLaren Automotive has been around since 1985. Around that time, the company developed and engineered one of history’s most iconic supercars: the F1.

But it wasn’t until 2010 that McLaren came back as a carmaker, after being dormant for almost two decades. Then, it gave us its first-ever modern supercar, the MP4-12C. Prior, the nameplate got a brief revival in a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, producing the SLR McLaren.

Yellow McLaren sports car driving on a road with green fields and a cloudy sky in the background. The car has a UK license plate reading "Y28 MCL. — Breathtaking supercars are what McLaren is known for.

Since the launch of the MP4-12C, McLaren’s lineup expanded to include more supercars and even a couple of hypercars.

But as history pragmatically tells us, sports cars — especially high-dollar exotics — aren’t volume sellers. Thus, they also don’t generate a lot of profit.

Two McLaren sports cars are shown on a smooth, reflective surface. The car in the foreground is a black convertible with silver multi-spoke wheels and red brake calipers, featuring a raised rear spoiler and a license plate reading "JC 98." The car in the background is a red and black coupe with a sleek, aerodynamic design and black wheels. Both cars have a modern, high-performance appearance. — The 750S JC96 Limited Edition is one of the versions McLaren drummed up to keep the lineup fresh.

As a result, McLaren Automotive hasn’t been very profitable, motorsports division aside. Most recently, the automaker supposedly lost around a billion British pounds, or today’s equivalent to $1.3 billion USD, in 2023.

To fix this, the automaker recently changed hands with hopes of reworking its strategy. In March of this year, an Abu Dhabi government-owned investment firm by the name of CYVN Holdings LLC purchased the rights to McLaren Automotive.

Orange and black McLaren sports car with sleek aerodynamic design, sharp LED headlights, and black alloy wheels, parked on a concrete floor in a dimly lit space with a dark gray wall background. — The W1 is the company’s most recent and newest model.

It currently operates a start-up under the name Forseven, who also purchased Gordon Murray Technology. The company also owns a 20 percent stake in Chinese electric vehicle maker, Nio.

Now, as McLaren Automotive undergoes an overhaul, Collins suggested that a new four-seat model could be in the pipeline. And it could be an SUV as they’re known to be serious cash cows.

Going beyond two-seats

A white Range Rover SUV parked on a sandy beach near a palm tree, with the ocean and a partly cloudy sky in the background. — Nick Collins helped develop the current “L460” Range Rover.

In CAR’s interview with Collins, they brushed up on his history in the industry. He spent a major portion of his career at Jaguar-Land Rover, having left the company in January 2024 following a nine-year tenure.

At JLR, he was largely responsible for the development of the current generation “L460” Range Rover and “L461” Range Rover Sport, and even the Defender revival. Now, CYVN wants to tap into his expertise to turn McLaren Automotive’s ship around.

McLaren W1 with doors up — The W1 is McLaren’s latest flagship model, replacing the P1.

“I’ve always loved motor racing, and I loved McLaren. I grew up in that Prost-Senna, Marlboro-McLaren era which I still think is one of the most evocative in F1,” Collins said of his admiration of McLaren.

“They were beautifully simple cars to look at, with phenomenal characters driving them. And I loved the fact that McLaren was a real technology company, pushing the boundaries of what could be done.”

The interview then evolved into what Collins’ plans were for McLaren, especially when asked about the company’s recent financial losses.

Middle-aged man with short light brown hair and blue glasses, wearing a navy blue quarter-zip sweater over a light blue collared shirt, standing against a dark vertical striped background. He is smiling slightly and looking directly at the camera. — CEO Nick Collins brings lots of experience to McLaren Automotive’s table.

“I think they were a bit stuck in the challenges and constraints of the business, and as a result had become a bit hesitant on action, which is why we’ve gone very quick on a few things,” he said.

Collins is referring to the recent updates and revisions to some of McLaren’s current models. However, he slightly admitted that the company’s lineup has gone a bit stagnant. And, more needs to be done to fix the financial situation.

Two McLaren sports cars are shown on a smooth, reflective surface. The car in the foreground is a red and black McLaren with a sleek, aerodynamic design, featuring sharp headlights and a prominent front splitter. The car in the background is a black McLaren with a similar design, viewed from the rear, showcasing its taillights, rear diffuser, and a raised rear wing. Both cars have low profiles and sporty, multi-spoke wheels. — The McLaren 750S will be the automaker’s last gas-only model.

“We know — give or take 10 per cent — everything we’ll do through 2030, and we have a design model of everything. There will be more of what we’ve always done, but even better, and then entry to some adjacent segments,” Collins noted.

“You’ll definitely see something with more than two seats, but that still leaves us in quite a wide territory. And as I said, even in two-seat territory, we could have a lot more diversity there.”

McLaren will utilize EV drive tech from Chinese EV firm, Nio

Chinese automaker Nio revealing a new model — Nio is one of China’s most prominent EV manufacturers.

Collins also added that the recent increase in US auto tariffs has definitely thrown an unexpected variable into the equation. The US is currently McLaren’s biggest market.

The company is also planning to utilize its partial ownership of Nio by incorporating some of its electric vehicle propulsion technology.

Six McLaren sports cars are arranged in a dark, spacious indoor setting with overhead lights illuminating them. The cars are positioned in two rows: the front row has three cars in silver, bright green, and white, while the back row has three cars in yellow-green, gold, and dark purple. The floor is reflective, highlighting the sleek designs and vibrant colors of the vehicles. — To generate more profit, McLaren needs to go beyond two-seater supercars.

“You’ll see Nio components in McLarens much sooner than you think at a component level, even in the current range,” Collins added.

“I want people many, many years down the line to be able to come to work at McLaren. We shouldn’t be taking a 10-year horizon,” he concluded. “We should be building a company for 50 years down the line. That may sound a bit grand, but that’s what we are trying to achieve.”

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