McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt once again emphasized in an interview that the company would never stoop as low as to produce SUVs; part-electric cars are another story.
He highlighted that the brand identity of the British luxury automaker centers on motorsports and expensive supercars, and that expanding to such drastically different market niches as the crossover/SUV segment would be pointless and inconsistent with its vision.
Flewitt’s colleagues seem to support this viewpoint wholeheartedly. Dan Parry-Williams, Director of Engineering Design, slapped the abbreviation “SUV” two years ago claiming that such cars are really neither utilitarian nor sporty.
Sales and Marketing Director Jolyon Nash went as far as to describe the proposed development of an SUV as a threat to the very being of McLaren. He stressed that a car like that might only become relevant to the company if it somehow ceases to earn anything from all other models.
Furthermore, McLaren is still convinced that EVs are too heavy for general racetrack use. Hybrids are another story: all new vehicles of the British marque will go electrified in two or three years, if only so that they conform to the new environmental standards.
The latest and greatest McLaren, the Artura, will debut in the first half of 2021 based on the MCLA all-carbon chassis designed specifically for part-electric supercars. A high-end hybrid hypercar will follow it a few years later, coming as a successor to the legendary P1 model.