New McLaren SUV is a go, thanks to huge £500-million investment

A performance SUV will be the centrepiece of McLaren’s new model expansion, underwritten by a £500-million investment in the group’s British R&D and manufacturing capabilities.

The funds – from McLaren Automotive’s owners L’IMAD, the investment arm of Abu Dhabi – are set to overhaul the supercar maker’s portfolio, pushing into new markets with a rival for luxury SUVs the Ferrari Purosangue and Aston Martin DBX707.

The investment should breathe new life into the UK company, which includes R&D and supercar assembly in Woking (alongside the Formula 1 operation), design in Oxfordshire and carbon-fibre tub manufacturing in Sheffield. At least 1,000 direct jobs should be created by 2032.

Two new engines and transmissions are also part of the plan, with McLaren set to establish in-house powertrain manufacturing for the first time. Production of the 750S supercar’s twin-turbo V8 and Artura’s hybridised V6 has been outsourced to British supplier Ricardo.

McLaren’s performance SUV is set to run high-performance hybrid engines, with McLaren Group Holdings CEO Nick Collins previously telling Auto Express the brand will only embrace electric power when customers demand it.

“You’ve got to be pulled by your customers. You can’t push something on them that they’re not ready for. When they’re ready for it, we can do it,” Collins told us at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed. He added that hybridised internal combustion engines would help future McLarens meet emission standards.

But the SUV does not signal a move away from McLaren’s supercar heartland. While the limited-run 788HS is the swan song for the 750S series, new high-performance sports cars will follow, starting with the McL 6GT. It mates V8 power with McLaren’s first manual transmission since the legendary F1 of 1992.

“We’ll do everything we’ve always done, but even more and even better, with a few other things around it,” said Collins. “We will cater to a fairly wide audience, but in a McLaren way with a McLaren recipe. And we won’t do anything that doesn’t resonate with our brand and our values.” 

McLaren is yet to reveal the precise timeline for its new model rollout, although this investment covers a six-year window. Collins said the team had undertaken more than a year of detailed planning to get the foundations right. “We are going to go very, very quickly. It's a really exciting journey. I've been around this industry 33 years, and I've never been around as exciting a story as the one that’s about to unfold.”

The £500-million investment is Abu Dhabi’s second major move to shore up McLaren, having paid off the automotive debt – thought to be around £800-million – shortly after acquiring the business in April 2025. Some 3,000 additional vacancies should be created in the supply chain, news welcomed by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham. 

“[McLaren’s] investment will create high-quality apprenticeships, jobs and drive growth far beyond their factory gates. It is how you get skilled work, decent wages and pride back into a place,” said the PM in a statement. “It’s this kind of partnership between government and business that will help us reindustrialise communities and make every part of Britain better off. I want young people to see that and know there is a future for them in making things, wherever they grew up.”

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