And Woking still doesn't know exactly what form that will take.
Speaking with Autocar at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren CEO Michael Leiters has explained that the company has a long way to go before it can look to rival the likes of the Ferrari Purosangue with a tradition-breaking four-door of its own. Before it can look at such a vehicle, it has to become financially secure. Late last year, the company had to sell cars from its heritage collection to stay afloat, and this is still something that Leiters is contending with.
He explained that the chief priority for McLaren is “to bring the company on the right road to profitability.”
CarBuzz
Once McLaren's finances are more stable, only then can it look to the future, which is rumored to include several new vehicles, such as an SUV. Or it might not be an SUV at all. Other possibilities include a Porsche Taycan rival. When the money is there, McLaren can start to take risks again.
“If we are on the right road for profitability, we will think about extension across all segments. We call it 'shared performance,'” said Leiters. Shared performance could be everything which has more than two doors and/or more than two seats. 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 not soon, then when?
“If you consider what I said – recapitalization and then going to profitability plus the development time [of a new car] – this won't be before 2028,” explained the CEO. As for an EV, he says McLaren would only do it if it is “comparable to a 750S weight-wise,” adding that McLaren has some “really exciting ideas around that,” and if and when it arrives, “it has to outperform what we can do with ICE.”
Securing investment and restructuring the brand will be critical, and Leiters concedes that “2023 will be a difficult year” for McLaren, especially since production of the Artura still lags behind capacity as McLaren scrambles to make sure quality is high enough to bring customers back to the brand in future.
Basically, McLaren needs a moneymaker like an SUV or a high-performance EV in order to grow and in order to bolster profitability – raising prices alone won't solve McLaren's financial problems. But it can only develop such a car when it has money. It's a vicious circle, and McLaren has been stuck in it for a long time. But that's why Leiters was brought in, so we'll be watching closely.
Until an EV or an entrant to a segment McLaren is not familiar with arrives, “more specials” (limited-run cars) will have to tide McLaren over. At least that means we can look forward to a more hardcore 750S at some point.
Keyword: Four-Door McLaren Won't Happen Before 2028, Says CEO