New grand tourer to be revealed next month as rules force Woking’s hand on plug-ins
McLaren will launch a new “rule-breaking” grand tourer in May, and has shown the model in disguise. First detailed at last month’s Geneva motor show with heavy camouflage, the latest images have allowed our designer to render an undisguised image of the car.
The as-yet-unnamed model is expected to be powered by McLaren’s 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, with more power than the 562bhp 570GT. Speaking at last month’s Geneva show, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said the car will be “more differentiated” than the 570GT was compared with the 570S, with a “more dedicated focus on the characteristics you want in a GT”. The first customer cars will arrive this autumn with an expected price of around £145,000.
Flewitt previously hinted that the new GT could be the first of several more practical but still performance-focused models. It’s the fourth car to reach production under the Woking brand’s Track25 business plan, out of a total of 18 new models due by 2025. Flewitt also claimed that the brand remains on course to have part-electrified models on sale before Aston Martin (see separate story).
“Aston are talking about competing with us, but there isn’t anything near the road yet,” Flewitt said. He confirmed that the first hybrid McLaren, the replacement for the Sports Series that is due next year, will send both petrol and electric power through the rear wheels only, while an all-wheel-drive hybrid system is being considered for higher-performance models. McLaren is also believed to be switching to a weight-saving, smaller-capacity V6 to combine with electric power.
The forthcoming Sports Series replacement is also expected to come with a charging port. “Plug-ins have to be part of the equation,” Flewitt said. “We’ve got to be honest: we’ve been driven to this by emissions regulations.”
While it won’t be possible to fully cancel out the weight penalty of a hybrid system, Flewitt hopes to minimise it. “I’ve always said my ambition was to launch the hybrid at the same weight as the outgoing car,” he said. “We’re not going to hit that, but we’re going to be within 30-40kg.
McLaren’s new grand tourer will go on sale in the autumn. The new model will have more power than the 570GT.
