McLaren Will Kill Its Hybrid Sports Car So It Can Build An SUV: Report

The entry-level supercar market is in a weird spot right now. Some contenders are nigh-on as potent as their bigger brothers, some are chasing lap times, some are chasing presence, and one in particular is allegedly set to go away. As Automotive News reports, McLaren “is expected to discontinue the Artura — the ultraluxury brand’s first plug-in hybrid — in 2028,” and a V8 hybrid SUV could pick up some of the slack.

When the Artura was unveiled in early 2021, it certainly seemed ambitious. Not only is it McLaren’s first volume plug-in hybrid model, but it also features a 120-degree V6 that’s a wholehearted departure from 90-degree V8s that built the brand’s modern road car lineup. The chassis was new, the gearbox was new and simplified as electric assistance eliminated the need for reverse gear – this entry-level supercar was a big deal for McLaren. It was claimed to only weigh 194 pounds more than the 570S it replaced, yet offered 11 miles of electric range. However, with a technological shift this big, delays and teething problems probably should’ve been expected.

Normally, less than a year passes between the public reveal of a production car and the first media drives. McLaren needed roughly 18 months for the Artura to finish baking, but it seems like it was still pulled out of the oven too early. As Autocar wrote in June of 2025:

Back in 2022, the example yours truly was driving on the press launch at the Ascari circuit fell victim to a pretty serious “thermal incident”. There were, in fact, two of these ‘incidents’ on the launch that week. One of them, arguably the result of human procedural error and bad luck (new fuel hoses that hadn’t been torqued to the correct tightness), resulted in quite a large fire. My car’s spot of bother – lots of smoke, a dash full of warning lights, a knackered cooling system and an immobile car at turn 16 but no flames – was actually more serious in the longer term because it resulted from a genuine design flaw: an intercooler whose internal structures had, in a sense, been laid out backwards.

This was not a particularly confidence-inspiring launch, and subsequent quality work really affected McLaren’s ability to pull off a smooth market launch. Snags like a production pause, multiple recalls due to leaky fuel pipes, reports of early software glitches, and McLaren’s own financial difficulties took much of the sheen off the Artura. By the time everything was sorted, the competition had more than caught up.

Today, the Artura sits in a unique spot between the more practical Porsche 911 Turbo S and much more potent hybrid supercars from Ferrari and Lamborghini. A combined output of 690 horsepower is plenty, but the V6 baby Ferrari features a combined output of 819 horsepower, and the Lamborghini Temerario makes 907 combined horsepower. Does this make an enormous difference in the real world? Not when you’re stuck in traffic, but supercars are often more about bragging rights than anything else.

However, don’t think that the Artura is getting canned early. Six-ish years of production would indeed be a full model cycle by industry standards, about the same lifespan as the old 570S. So what’s the next move for broader appeal beyond entry-level supercars? According to Automotive News, “a V-8-powered hybrid SUV.” Will a McLaren SUV work to attract buyers looking for a daily driver or just a wealth flex? That’s hard to say. The high-end SUV market is already fairly saturated, and buyers shopping for this sort of vehicle have a different set of expectations to those of supercar buyers. A small servicing network is fine for a toy but annoying for a daily driver, for instance.

Regardless, it sounds like something more exciting might be on the horizon. In addition to the rumored SUV, Automotive News reports, “A new midengine model, code-named P34, is expected to become McLaren’s entry offering after the 2027 model year.” Return of the Macca, indeed.

Top graphic image: McLaren