McLaren confirms SUV days after Eagers buys into its Australian dealer

McLaren Automotive has confirmed it will build a performance SUV, as part of a £500 million investment programme in its United Kingdom manufacturing and engineering operations.

The confirmation comes six days after Eagers Automotive agreed to take a 50% interest in Zagame Automotive Group, the exclusive McLaren dealer in Victoria and the authorised McLaren service point in South Australia.

An SUV would be the first McLaren outside the supercar, GT and track categories, and the first product capable of moving the brand beyond the volumes it currently records here. McLaren sold one vehicle in Australia in August and 25 for the year to date, down 46.8% on the same period last year.

McLaren describes the approach as building a complete portfolio around the supercar, segmented to protect brand value and client loyalty.

Engines in-house for the first time

The £500 million, about A$943 million at current rates, funds a new vehicle assembly facility in the UK and will let McLaren design and build its own powertrains for the first time, starting with two engines and transmissions to support a hybrid strategy.

Operations expand at the McLaren Production Centre in Woking and the composites facility in South Yorkshire, joining a design and innovation centre opened at Bicester and a vehicle development facility in the Midlands.

The programme is forecast to create at least 1,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2032 and to double McLaren’s UK manufacturing workforce, with up to 3,000 further roles expected across the supply chain on Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures.

The money comes from shareholder L’IMAD, a sovereign investor of the Government of Abu Dhabi, which has held McLaren for the past 20 months.

“This investment gives us the platform to grow, develop and build on what makes us distinctive, while investing in the people, technologies and products that will keep us competitive for decades to come,” McLaren Group Holdings and McLaren Automotive chief executive Nick Collins says.

UK prime minister Andy Burnham says McLaren is doubling down on Britain by keeping design, engineering and build in the country, and that the investment will create apprenticeships and growth beyond the factory gates.

What it means locally

Eagers cited the luxury and super-luxury segments as an area with lower levels of disruption from the industry transition and new market entrants when it announced the Zagame investment on 10 September. Zagame turned over about $600 million in the year to June on roughly 2,000 new vehicle sales across 14 brands, with completion targeted for the end of November.

An SUV would change what a McLaren franchise is worth. The brand has never had a model that sells in the numbers an SUV implies, and neither McLaren nor Eagers has indicated timing or whether the model is confirmed for Australia.