Upheaval at McLaren: new SUV, new factory and new-ish logo following £500m investment

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McLaren has refreshed its corporate look as it prepares to upend its line-up and end years of commercial headwinds. 

Flush with £500 million from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, the British supercar maker, famous for its Formula 1 team, will diversify its line-up beyond mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive supercars. That template has been followed by every McLaren but one: the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, built from 2003 to 2010.

McLaren will be the latest luxury sports car brand to follow Porsche’s lead, and will build an SUV by 2030.

Set to be a front-engined hybrid, likely with all-wheel drive, the new platform mooted by McLaren could underpin other models beyond the confirmed SUV, such as a four-seat coupé rivalling the Aston Martin DB12.

McLaren is seriously considering constructing the SUV and its offshoots around a carbon-fibre tub, like existing McLarens. Outside of supercars, this is a somewhat radical move, but it could enable a wide range of bodystyles. 

This approach has precedent. McLaren has vast experience in coupe and convertible construction where the cars’ rigidity comes from their tubs, so little to no reinforcement is needed to compensate for the missing roof in drop-top versions. 

Engine development and production will come in-house. McLaren’s engines are currently built and co-developed by Ricardo, and the twin-turbo V8 in the 750S and GTS stems from a 1990s Nissan engine.

Off the table for now is an electric car, due to low demand in McLaren’s rarefied market segment.

McLaren plans three model ‘lanes’: its trademark mid-engined supercars, front-engined cars like the SUV, and the Ultimate Series halo models like the W1.

The half-a-billion pounds will also contribute to a second factory, complementing the existing plant in Surrey, England. The Guardian reports Yorkshire, which already hosts McLaren’s carbon-fibre production facility, is the preferred location.

McLaren are tenants, not owners, of the Surrey plant, having sold it in 2021 to urgently raise funds.

Given Land Rover’s debilitating cyberattack, Jaguar’s intensely controversial new direction and Aston Martin’s own financial troubles, this is rare good news for the British car industry. McLaren’s plan was welcomed by the British prime minister himself, Andy Burnham.

It’s been suggested the expanding McLaren could absorb staff Jaguar and Land Rover are presently making redundant.

Every current McLaren under a cloud

McLaren’s new direction means its current line-up has an expiry date.

The first to go is reportedly the GTS. The unorthodox grand tourer debuted in 2019 to rival the Aston Martin DB11, Bentley Continental and BMW 8 Series, and will follow the Beemer out of production in 2027. The GTS shares its mid-engine layout and carbon-fibre tub with other McLarens, but could return using the SUV’s front-engined layout.

The Artura will depart in 2028. The V6 hybrid supercar’s gruelling initial launch – reportedly, several broke down in the hands of journalists during test drives – has weighed on sales, even though the Artura’s problems are generally considered resolved. McLaren’s senior supercar, the V8 750S, dates back to 2017 and is due for replacement.

An upcoming mid-engined supercar, codenamed P34, will reportedly keep the Artura’s twin-turbo V6 and hybrid system. The P34 will replace either the Artura, the 750S, or both.

Not All Black

A rejigged visual identity accompanies McLaren’s future plans.

The new wordmark – which will not replace the Speedmark logo or Speedy Kiwi icon – mimics the sign above the McLaren family’s petrol station in its native Auckland, New Zealand.

Bright orange won’t be displaced as the company colour, but darker, blander colours will join it as a “signifier of premiumness and luxury”. There’s also a new font, McLaren Sans.

The Speedy Kiwi himself, Bruce McLaren (1937-1970), will get the hagiographic treatment accorded to Enzo Ferrari. McLaren executive David Woodhouse stated to Autocar that “there’s been a period of not recognising our founder, not showing him, and we wanted to come back to this great foundation of what we’re about.”