MCLAREN is set to break 62 years of tradition by merging with a luxury EV brand, aiming to expand its model range beyond supercars.
This move could see the iconic British marque venture into producing SUVs and other types of vehicles – much like Porsche, Aston Martin, and Lamborghini have done in recent years.
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McLaren Automotive, which is a separate entity from their famous F1 team, was sold to Abu Dhabi investment group CYVN Holdings back in December.
But CYVN also backs a number of other brands, including British EV start-up Forseven and Chinese EV maker Nio.
And according to the Financial Times, they now plan to merge McLaren with Forseven in a radical makeover.
According to their reports, the merger will enable McLaren to widen its model range beyond supercars, including the potential introduction of SUVs.
McLaren has suffered losses for the past five years and has engaged in talks with several other carmakers to form partnerships, and to secure new funding.
However, these talks failed to materialise and brought about negotiations with CYVN, which started roughly a year ago.
The FT states that the merger will be led by Nick Collins, a former Jaguar Land Rover executive, who said: “I vehemently believe luxury is what Britain does brilliantly in automotive.”
British brands such as Bentley and Aston Martin, and their Italian rivals Ferrari and Lamborghini, have all built SUVs and launched SUV-sized models in recent years.
These in turn have helped increase their sales and profits.
Porsche, another luxury carmaker famed for its sports cars, infamously produced the Cayenne in 2002 to a mixed reception.
However, the high-performance SUV has been a mighty success for the company and ensured their financial stability in the 2000s.
McLaren, likely, will be eyeing a similar resurgence.
In an interview last year, their chief executive, Michael Leiters, said: “To unlock the full potential, we think we should extend our line-up without diluting the brand.”
Collins has added that the merged group would be flexible about its models and would “have the ability to adapt our offer to the pace of transition.”
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