McLaren faces a few key challenges at the moment. There are reports of slipping demand and a dimming enthusiasm for its supercars, and the company has more competitors in the supercar realm than ever. That’s not to say McLaren has done anything particularly wrong with its vehicles up until now, but we have to admit it’s getting a little same-y across the lineup regarding design and company direction.
Now, with fresh investment from a Saudi Arabian firm, there’s a new CEO named Nick Collins who says he’s already hard at work on what’s next for the brand, which we should see sooner than we might expect.
Speaking to Car And Driver at this year’s Monterey Car Week in California, McLaren CEO Nick Collins promises the brand is headed in the right direction with new changes he’s implementing. The new investment helped pay off the company’s debt, which made his job much easier as he now gets a clean slate to focus on profits in the future.
One of the first moves he made, according to the interview, was shrinking down total annual production from around 3,000 cars last year to just 2,000 cars for 2025. This is a response to those who are concerned about the brand’s residual value, with many recent McLaren models suffering from significant depreciation just a couple of years after being sold for hefty sums. It’s a problem that not all other luxury and performance brands face, so it’s smart to limit production to make the brand a little more exclusive going forward, which should make used models more coveted as well.
“We want to get stable and then grow,” Collins says.
McLaren also recently brought in a UK startup called Forseven, which also already owned Gordon Murray’s tech development company (which isn’t the same as his car company). The firm is said to have significant automotive expertise, and is helping McLaren establish a new “state-of-the-art” design studio for future models. Collins went on to admit that “there’s not enough differentiation” in the current McLaren lineup of two-seat mid-engine supercars, so design will take a much more direct focus on future models.
Collins also confirmed that he’s looking into expanding the brand beyond only selling two-seat models, but apparently didn’t detail what a McLaren with more than two seats would look like. The company has attempted to avoid the development of a new SUV despite rumors and requests for years, so that could finally happen. It would likely try to be a peg higher or a little more unique than the Range Rover Sport or Bentley Bentayga, hopefully more like the new Ferrari Purosangue (which the Italian brand does not consider a proper SUV despite it basically being one).
Refreshingly, Collins detailed that combustion models, including plug-in hybrid variations, will be the priority for the brand for “a very long period of time” going forward. The brand will explore a “multi-propulsion strategy” that could see an electric model as well, though it could be limited to markets where people actually want EVs, like China. The all-new 916-hp twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 gas engine in the new McLaren W1 is also sticking around for the indefinite future and will show up in more models.
Keeping weight down will also continue to be an engineering goal.
“I think it has to be,” he said, talking about mass. “It’s not about weight for the sake of weight, but what it unlocks in terms of the spirit of the car. You can play tricks to mask it, but it’s never as pure as a car that’s light in the first place.”
Finally, Collins says the new investment and paid-off debts have already resulted in more investment in the cars already in development when he arrived, making them better in the long run.
“More design, more technology, more quality, more attribute integrity, and a more rounded elevated experience,” he said.
The fruits of his efforts should come sooner rather than later. We’ve already spotted updates for the Artura conducting development testing on public roads, and that should be expected fairly soon.
Source: Car And Driver
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