McLaren thinks big and beyond just two doors

Small supercar maker McLaren Automotive is thinking big. The British marque, which sold just 2,137 vehicles globally last year, is looking toward a future beyond high-octane two-door sports cars.

McLaren could deliver its first four-door model in the first half of 2028.

"A lifestyle-oriented vehicle could have a big potential for us," CEO Michael Leiters told Automotive News in August. "It could add an important leg to our business."

The utilitarian model could replace the McLaren GTS as the brand's gateway model, drawing new customers, just as the Cayenne did for Porsche. "We want to enlarge our customer base," Leiters said.

Longer term, McLaren will explore bringing out its first all-electric sports car.

For now, electric propulsion is "not relevant for us in the supercar segment," Leiters said. "It's too heavy, and the [driving experience] is not emotional enough."

In the interim, McLaren is betting on hybrid technology to deliver sustainable performance. "In four years, around 90 percent of our fleet will be hybridized," Leiters said.

A lightweight hybrid system will debut in McLaren's next halo car. The Formula One-inspired hybrid, codenamed P18, is powered by a new McLaren-designed V-8 engine paired with a hybrid system about 70 percent lighter than the current generation.

"That is a really exciting powertrain that we will use as a fundamental technology as we go forward into the future," McLaren sales and marketing boss George Biggs said.

Four-door model: McLaren executives avoid referring to the planned model as an SUV, saying the body style is under consideration. Instead, they refer to it as a "shared performance" vehicle.

"It has to be light. It has to be nimble," Leiters said. "It has to meet performance and acceleration benchmarks."

McLaren could partner with another automaker on the platform and potentially the body-making. Leiters said McLaren is in discussions with multiple automakers but declined to identify them.

"Everything which is not our core can be of interest" in any partnership, Leiters said. "This makes it more viable and profitable for us."

Ultimate Series: McLaren's next flagship will debut a lightweight hybrid system and arrive in the first half of 2026. The two-seat hypercar codenamed P18, features a newly developed McLaren-designed high-revving V-8 engine that combined with an electric motor will deliver 1,200 hp.

The Ultimate Series sports a newly developed carbon-fiber monocoque with integrated seat backs. That setup improves rigidity and safety while cutting weight. It trades McLaren's signature butterfly doors for a gullwing style and carries 3D-printed suspension parts and F1-inspired aero design.

The British sport scar marque plans to build fewer than 400 of the track monsters that will cost a cool $2.2 million, McLaren executives told retailers at a meeting in April.

Artura: McLaren's newest nameplate expanded this spring with a convertible variant. The Artura Spider, with a curb weight of 3,439 pounds, is the lightest convertible supercar in its class.

The Spider is also the most fuel-efficient McLaren convertible thanks to a 7.4-kilowatt-hour battery that delivers 21 miles of zero-emission-only driving on a full charge.

The Spider carries its coupe sibling's sculpted profile, signature "hammerhead" nose, integrated front fender louvers and headlight air intakes. New buttresses incorporating the rollover structure include a glazed section to improve rear visibility and serve as an airflow channel into the engine bay area.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Artura coupe receives the convertible's recalibrated powertrain, 24 percent faster gearshifts and improved braking power with new brake cooling ducts.

A limited-edition LT, or longtail, variant is expected in 2026.

750S: Last fall, McLaren replaced the 720S with the faster and lighter 750S.

The 750S, available as a coupe and convertible, carries its predecessor's 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 engine with 710 hp, and delivers an additional 30 hp. The new model sprints from 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds and covers a quarter-mile in up to 10.3 seconds.

McLaren will replace the 750S with a new model in 2026 that will carry over the P18's plug-in hybrid system. But before that, the 750S could see a limited-volume, high-horsepower, aero-tuned performance variant in late 2025.

GTS: The coupe was updated and renamed the GTS as part of McLaren's freshening this year. The model will be discontinued after the 2026 model year and will be replaced by the planned four-door.

McLaren made tweaks to the exterior and gave the Grand Tourer a 14-hp bump and a 22-pound weight reduction.

Up front, the "hammerhead" signature styling was updated with a new lower front bumper section. Newly sculpted air intakes are more pronounced, with wider intakes to channel more air into the car's radiator system. Rear fenders feature taller air scoops helping funnel air into the beefy 645-hp twin-turbocharged V-8 engine.