McLaren SUV Officially Under Consideration, But It Will Take Time

It's easy to throw stones at Porsche for coming out with the Cayenne and Macan but look at where the house of Zuffenhausen is now. The company is thriving and has the means to keep funding the 911 and work on a new 718. Lamborghini is doing better than ever mainly thanks to its Urus, while Ferrari has a great future considering the Purosangue is already a smash hit. Purists don't like SUVs, but where would many high-end brands be without them?

That brings us to McLaren. The peeps from Woking don't have an SUV of their own, which partially explains why the British supercar marque is not in its best financial shape. Quality issues have also negatively impacted the company's performance, but it's safe to say a high-riding model would've pleased the accountants. The good news is a more practical vehicle is under consideration. The bad news is it'll take a while.

In an interview with Automotive News, McLaren's director of product strategy Jamie Corstorphine briefly talked about a potential SUV: "The most important thing is to provide a [vehicle] that has more space or ability for a McLaren customer to share the experience with more people. How high-riding it is, whether it's a crossover ... that's to be decided and in fact, nothing is set at this point. If we're going to do anything, whether it's this type of product, or any other type of product, the test for us is, can we accurately reflect the DNA of McLaren?"

The statement tells us it will take a long time before McLaren goes after the Aston Martin DBX and co. An SUV represents a 180-degree turn compared to the days when Mike Flewitt was CEO. He was adamant there shouldn't be one, but his successor Michael Leiters sees things differently. You can only go so far with a plethora of supercars and hypercars as the smart money is in the SUV segment, even with the risk of diluting the brand.