McLaren Is Reconsidering An SUV In An Attempt To Actually Make Money

McLaren has had a real “will they or won’t they” relationship with the idea of building an SUV, constantly going from “it’ll be here in a few years” to “we’re a sports car company, dammit, we can’t make an SUV.” Well, it seems the latter has won out as the British-turned-Emirati-owned company looks for new ways to actually make money.

It’s part of a turnaround plan to get the struggling automaker back on track after it was purchased by Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings in December of 2024. It will merge the company with its UK-based EV startup called Forseven Holdings, according to Bloomberg. The idea is to leverage McLaren’s brand recognition and history for a new lineup of vehicles. Don’t worry though, its brilliant supercars aren’t going anywhere.

While other automakers like Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Lamborghini have embraced SUVs to supplement their sports car lineup, McLaren has been extremely hesitant to do so. Back in 2018, the company’s former CEO said the automaker would never build an SUV because there were already “more than enough.” Well, the tune of the company has changed since its new owners decided it should probably make money.

Right now, not too much is known about Forseven or the upcoming SUV. It does seem to have some sort of tech tie-up with Chinese EV maker Nio, including the fact CYVN has a stake in the company. Still, it’s not clear what a McLaren SUV might look like, or what’ll power it. We’ve previously talked about it possibly being an electric vehicle, but–with the state of the world right now–who the hell knows? The 750S’ 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 would certainly be a hoot in any application, even a large-ish SUV.

CYVN has its work cut out for it if it wants to reverse years of losses at McLaren, a company that has been very good at making cars (if you don’t count reliability) but not at making money. Over the past few years, McLaren has had to ask shareholders for more money on multiple occasions, according to Bloomberg, most recently because of delays to its “entry-level” Artura supercar. It was also forced to sell off some of its heritage car collection, offloaded its advanced technologies arm, and completed a sale and leaseback of its headquarters in Woking, England.

When McLaren and Forseven do officially merge, former Jaguar Land Rover executive Nick Collins will lead the company, according to Bloomberg. McLaren’s current CEO Michael Leiters will remain as the head of the brand.

Some people will, of course, cry sacrilege at the idea of a McLaren SUV, but I really don’t think it’ll be a big deal. Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari are already doing this exact thing, and the reality of the situation is that McLaren is in an extremely tough spot right now, financially. If an SUV can help remedy that situation, so it can continue to make brilliant supercars, I’m all for it.