McLaren caves, will build an SUV after all

Thursday, 16 June 2022

McLaren is rumoured to be building an SUV, after years of resistance.

Ever since the rise of the performance SUV, McLaren has been resolute in not wanting to join the likes of Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Porsche and, soon, Ferrari, in creating a high-riding sports machine.

However, it seems that even McLaren can’t resist the potential profits to be had in the segment, with reports emerging saying the British sportscar maker is actively working on an electric high-performance crossover.

McLaren will target the Aston Martin DBX 707, but use electric power to get there.

Autocar UK says that McLaren will introduce a single model to begin with, before expanding to different specifications and power levels, similar to Aston Martin’s approach with the DBX.

The model will ride relatively low, use as many as three electric motors with four-wheel drive, with performance rivalling or exceeding that of the DBX 707, currently the world’s fastest SUV.

McLaren's latest creation is a plug-in hybrid twin-turbo V6.

* Aston Martin reveals its $330k SUV, the DBX

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Considering the complexity of what will likely be top-end battery tech, stonking performance and McLaren exclusivity, expect pricing to be high. Autocar UK thinks it could even close in on the £350,000 (NZ$700,000) mark.

There are still a few blanks to be filled, like who McLaren will partner with, considering it doesn’t really have a platform that could support an SUV. A revamp of McLaren’s factory in Woking might also be required, unless it can work in a manufacturing agreement with its partner, as demand could easily exceed the sub-5000 annual unit production rate McLaren had pre-pandemic.

It doesn’t take much to join the dots as to why McLaren has done such a U-turn on the SUV front. Quite simply, SUVs are money machines.

Porsche saved itself with the Cayenne, and the smaller Macan has been a similarly rampant success. Lamborghini outsold the Huracan by around two-to-one with the Urus, and Aston’s DBX made up around half of its global sales during its first full year on the market.

Ferrari was another holdout in the face of the SUV tide, with its late boss, Sergio Marchionne, famously saying “you’d have to shoot me” before the Prancing Horse made an SUV. It’s currently in the process of hyping the Purosangue, set to be a V12-powered high-performance high-rider.

There’s also the fact that McLaren has a new CEO, Michael Leiters, who was previously stationed at Porsche. What did he do there? Only oversee the development of the Cayenne and Macan as SUV line director…