McLaren is said to be working on an all-electric SUV that will lock horns with rivals like the Ferrari Purosangue and Lamborghini Urus.
British sports car company McLaren is said to be working on its first SUV, which will be an all-electric vehicle. In an interaction with Car magazine, new McLaren Automotive CEO Michael Leiters confirmed that the brand is looking to expand its portfolio into new areas in an attempt to generate more business. revenue, and at the same time, he also said that the company is developing a car for the family. . Connecting all the dots, his comment clearly indicates that the automaker may be working on its first all-electric SUV.
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In short, Leiters has never explicitly confirmed an SUV is in production, but it’s safe to assume that’s what he meant by a family car.
SUVs are the latest phenomenon in the global auto industry. Almost every automaker that has never made an SUV or crossover before or even vowed not to make any is jumping into the race to develop these boxy models. The reason behind this is the skyrocketing consumer demand for SUVs and crossovers. Therefore, the revenue generation model is being applied to these automakers.
Iconic sports car brands like Lamborghini and Ferrari brought their respective products, like Urus and Purosangue, into the segment. Aston Martin also puts its DBX in the same segment. Almost half of the British automaker’s total sales last year were DBX. To date, these models have helped their respective brands achieve significantly higher sales. Now, McLaren, too, seems ready to go the same way.
Speaking of McLaren’s upcoming car, Leiters said that with today’s lithium-ion batteries, he wouldn’t want to create an all-electric supercar because it would be too heavy and not handle as well as the engine. internal combustion or hybrid powertrain. – Model is equipped. However, an electric SUV or limousine would be fine, as handling wouldn’t matter for such a model. In addition, such a model from McLaren will become extremely powerful.
The McLaren CEO even hinted that it wouldn’t be surprising to see the SUV get around 1,000 kW of peak power at will. He added: “With EVs, it is more important to have a connected car that has a good control system to use all the potential you have with an electric motor.
Interestingly, before joining McLaren, Leiters worked with Ferrari, where his last project was Purosangue. Prior to Ferrari, he was a project manager at Porschewhere he is a key member of the team behind the project Cayenne. As a result, his love for SUVs became known to many.
First published date: October 16, 2022, 5:37 PM IST
