‘Not a classic SUV’
Where it previously seemed like cursing in the church, a little supercar manufacturer in 2022 has one or more SUVs in its range. McLaren is still one of the exceptions. Nevertheless, they also look at the options for an SUV.
For a manufacturer that relies on the sale of exclusive supercars, the addition of an SUV to the range can make a big difference. After all, there is enough market for sporty SUVs, especially in the higher segments. Such a model may lead to sales numbers that one could only dream of before. Look at Aston Martin with the DBX and Lamborghini with the Urus. At Ferrari, the Purosangue is the model that should boost the (already good) numbers. Michael Leiters, who has been at the helm of McLaren since July, was jointly responsible for that Purosangue as technical top man. Now he also seems to be at the cradle of an SUV at McLaren.
In conversation with the British coach Leiters declares grudgingly that McLaren is considering its SUV options. “It’s a very attractive segment in the market. I developed an SUV at Ferrari and at Porsche, so I like SUVs, but we (McLaren, ed.) don’t do it for me.” According to Leiters, it is now mainly a matter of discovering what kind of SUV it should be at McLaren. “At McLaren, we need to figure out how to get a product that fits into our DNA. It shouldn’t be a classic SUV,” said the German. So don’t expect a Cayenne-like model (which Leiters also collaborated on), but rather a fairly extremely contoured high-legged model that is somewhere between a GT and an SUV. So a bit like the Purosangue. So you can leave that to Leiters.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl