McLaren is gearing up to build an SUV for the first time in its 63-year history, betting that the glamour of its all-conquering Formula One team can sell cars to wealthy fans who do not own its supercars.
The model, which does not yet have a name, comes as part of a £500m investment by McLaren’s new Abu Dhabi owner that will also create 1,000 jobs, adding to the existing workforce of 2,500 people.
It will also fund a new factory, with Sheffield, home to McLaren’s existing carbon-fibre plant, understood to be the preferred site over the company’s headquarters in Woking.
Nick Collins, the carmaker’s chief executive, said the recent success of the McLaren racing team had created an “untapped love” for the brand among people who have never bought its cars.
The SUV would open the door to more buyers for whom two-seater sports cars were a limitation, he said. “It’s quite difficult if you have to decide which one of your kids you want to leave behind at home.”
The new model is part of a turnaround plan at McLaren Automotive, which was bought from the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat last year by CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi government-owned investment company.
CYVN has vowed to invest $2bn (£1.4bn) in the loss-making group over five years. McLaren also merged with the British electric vehicle startup Forseven Holdings last April.
However, McLaren has no immediate plans to build an EV of its own, despite a government mandate saying all new cars in the UK must be zero-emission by 2035. “[Customers] are not asking us, and we’re not doing one,” Collins said.
Founded in 1963 by the racing driver Bruce McLaren, the company built racing cars, and later the McLaren F1 supercar in the 1990s, before spinning off McLaren Automotive as a dedicated road carmaker in 2010.
But it has struggled in recent years amid mounting debts and falling sales, before last year’s takeover by CYVN.
European luxury carmakers have faced tough trading conditions after a collapse in demand in China, a key market, which has already forced job losses at rivals Aston Martin and Bentley.
Michael Straughan, McLaren’s chief operating officer, said the SUV was a “critical” moment for the company, adding that he could “quite easily see us doubling” sales, which now stand at about 3,000 cars a year, through the new model.
He said the new factory was likely to be built in Sheffield, calling it “the jewel in the crown” for the company’s manufacturing capability, though no final decision has been made.
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It comes amid a bumper period for sister company McLaren Racing, which has won the last two Formula One constructors championships and is also based in Woking. Mumtalakat still has majority control of McLaren Racing, while CYVN has a minority stake.
Straughan said: “There’s no doubt there’s people who are F1 fans … who would never purchase a McLaren sports car, but would definitely consider a McLaren SUV.”
He would not be drawn on the exact price of the new vehicle, but expects it to compete with the Bentley Bentayga, Aston Martin DBX and Lamborghini Urus, models that all start above £200,000.
“I think the trick here is conquest of other brands’ customers,” Straughan added – though not before seeing a Ferrari F40 drive past the window of McLaren’s technology centre in Woking.
The prime minister, Andy Burnham, welcomed the investment, saying it showed the company was “doubling down on Britain”.
The growth of SUVs has come against the backdrop of warnings over “carspreading” and safety. Research has shown cars have grown 1.2cm longer, 0.5cm taller and 0.5cm wider each year on average since 2000, and that potential SUV buyers are undeterred by warnings they are more likely to kill pedestrians.
