Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini, and even Porsche – these are just some of the brands in the performance/luxury/exotic car segment that now have SUV models in their lineups. McLaren, meanwhile, is one of the very few marques in the world that still don’t have a lifted and more practical vehicle on sale. Rumors about the company’s first SUV have been circulating the web for years now but apparently, it won’t arrive before McLaren finishes other more important plans first.
McLaren’s CEO Michael Leiters attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past weekend where he spoke to Autocar about the short- and mid-term plans of the automaker. Leiters sees two goals as the most important missions for McLaren with a higher priority than launching an SUV – reorganization and recapitalization. Ultimately, McLaren wants to return “on the right road to profitability.”
Gallery: McLaren Extreme E electric off-roader
“If we are on the right road for profitability, we will think about extension across all segments. We call it ‘shared performance’. Shared performance could be everything which has more than two doors and/or more than two seats,” Leiters told Autocar, hinting that there might be other new models joining the lineup but they won’t be coming anytime soon.
Earlier this year, during McLaren’s global dealer meeting in April, company executives talked about what future products the brand has planned. At the time, the automaker told attendees at the conference to "stay tuned" for a new class of vehicle with four seats and four doors in 2028. This schedule aligns with what Leiters told the British publication at FoS, giving us another hint that McLaren won’t launch its first SUV before 2028.
“This is something we will think about later. We didn't make a decision on that. It's definitely a business opportunity for us. But I don't see that in the near future. If you consider what I said - recapitalization and then going to profitability plus the development time - this won't be before 2028.”
If we have to summarize, it seems that McLaren is fond of the SUV idea – it just doesn’t want to rush its launch before it reaches a more stable financial situation. The supercar brand’s CEO admitted in a previous interview that he loves SUVs so it’s most likely a matter of ‘when’ rather than a matter of ‘if.’
