McLaren SUV finally confirmed, but its new logo comes first
New investment in McLaren will allow the supercar maker to expand its portfolio, make its own engines, and try to cash in on an SUV. There's even a new logo...
Eighteen months after McLaren's change of ownership from the Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund to the Abu Dhabi Government-backed CYVN Holdings and merged with electric vehicle start-up Forseven, the British supercar manufacturer has come up for air and announced its next strategic plans for the business. Sports car fans look away now, because it involves a performance SUV. And 1000 new jobs over the next six years, plus a new logo.
With £500 million invested by shareholder L’IMAD (the largest in the company's history), McLaren, under the leadership of CEO Nick Collins, will spend the cash on upgrading the brand’s manufacturing centre at the MTC headquarters in Woking along with a new vehicle assembly facility in the UK. It will also double the size of its carbon fibre facility in Sheffield. The money required for the SUV, due by the end of decade, has been secured and is independent from this round of funding.
McLaren to build its own engines – and an SUV
McLaren will also, for the first time, design and build its own powertrains in-house with two new hybrid engines and transmissions already signed off. These include the V8 and six-speed manual gearbox that were showcased in the McL 6GT concept car revealed at Monterey Car Week last month. Currently, McLaren’s engines are designed and developed in-house but are manufactured off-site by Ricardo.
The upgraded production lines and new powertrains will, according to McLaren, allow it to build ‘a complete portfolio around the supercar – intentionally and carefully segmented.’ It means they will build on what was created in the 750S supercar and W1 hypercar, but with a commitment to enter new categories, although only the on-off SUV project that’s been under discussion for at least five years has been confirmed for production.
Lamborghini's Urus and Aston Martin's DBX were cited as key competitors McLaren will target with its new hybrid-engined SUV, with Chief Operating Officer Michael Straughan OBE pointing out that Ferrari's Purosangue won't be, in their eyes, a competitor. Any technical details on McLaren's SUV we'll have to wait for, with Straughan only confirming that it will utilise a carbon fibre platform and stick to McLaren's focus on producing vehicles with the lowest power-to-weight ratio possible. Future versions could be all-electric, but this would require further development and design work to the platform.
Other projects that have been discussed, rumoured and suggested include some form of front-engined GT car, a four-door GT-coupe and a model to sit under the Artura. The likelihood of all of those seeing the light of day are slim. Aston Martin is rumoured to have spent £300m developing and bringing the DBX to market, McLaren will need double this if it's to go beyond updating its current models and deliver more than one of these all-new cars.
A replacement for the Artura, which was first shown to customers and the press in December 2019 before finally being launched in 2022 at the second attempt, is approaching its seventh birthday. The 750S, while still ultra-competitive and one of, if not the most exciting supercar you can buy, is approaching its fourth birthday and is underpinned by a lot of 720S, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2027. The GTS traces its roots back to the aforementioned 720S and is the first one expected to leave McLaren’s production for good first, as early as Spring 2027.
Spearheading the look of the new family of McLaren’s will be the recently appointed Chief Designer Kemal Curić, who was responsible for the McL 6GT concept, which is earmarked for production in 2028 as a limited run special. He will be taking responsibility for exterior, interior, CMF and digital design from the company's new Bicester Creative studio. Newly appointed Chief Creative Officer, David Woodhouse, who joined from Nissan America earlier this year where he held the role of Vice President of Design, will provide the creative insight across all areas of the brand.
Forming part of the new look strategy for McLaren there is also a new logo, first previewed on the McL 6GT, and some changes to the McLaren’s ‘Speedtail’ motif. The ‘c’ in McLaren has gained some elevation and now has a line under it – if you are into your typography the font is called McLaren Sans. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come in how the much needed investors cash is going to be spent. You can also expect more navy blue to play a part in McLaren Automotive’s identity going forward, with Papaya remaining the race team’s choice.
McLaren’s new product strategy, more of which will be revealed over the coming months and is likely to rely heavily on Gordon Murray’s iStream chassis technology, which was acquired by CYVN in 2023. This has already seen investment in the company’s Creation Centre in Bicester (formally Forseven's operation centre) and a new vehicle development facility based at MIRA in the Midlands. To support this expansion at least 1,000 new roles will be created between now and 2032, made up of full time and agency staff, with up to 3,000 additional jobs expected to be created across McLaren's supply chain. McLaren currently employs in the region of 2500 people in the UK.
