The long-anticipated McLaren SUV appears to have literally taken shape, as the automaker brought a clay model and shared some basic details about it at a dealer meeting on Tuesday in the U.K., per Automotive News.
The vehicle, codenamed P47, is reportedly due in 2028. One attendee told the publication that the SUV’s side profile mimicked that of a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT, but larger and sitting on 24-inch wheels. Another called it “sculpted and muscular” with “presence.”
P47 is said to embody McLaren’s new design language, featuring a split headlight design that lacks the inset projectors of previous models. It’s also said to be very aerodynamic, with a “spine” running along the roof—perhaps like the shark fins of F1 or sports prototype race cars—as well as a large rear wing and diffuser. And, in traditional McLaren fashion, it’s expected to be powered by a V8 with hybrid assistance, mounted as low and far back as possible for dynamics and design reasons.
However, after the W1 hypercar begins deliveries in 2026 but before the SUV arrives in 2028, a new coupe will emerge in 2027, with a design that “[pays] homage to older-generation McLarens,” per one retailer. It’ll be positioned between the entry-level Artura and 750S, with a price perhaps somewhere in the low $300,000 range. It’s possible that over the next several years, we will also see replacements for the 750S and McLaren GT, as well as a W1 convertible with a removable roof.
There’s clearly a lot brewing at McLaren, which has recently come under new ownership and is now collaborating with Forseven, an automotive startup that its parent company recently acquired and folded into the storied British brand. Nobody seems to be able to explain precisely what Forseven was or set out to do, though. McLaren CEO Nick Collins, who previously ran the short-lived company, has batted back prevailing assumptions that it was focused entirely on EVs.
McLaren has also tapped the expertise of Gordon Murray Automotive, which recently delivered a very limited run of hypercars that look exactly like the vehicle McLaren is best known for. It will be interesting to check back with the brand in a few years’ time and see how different it looks—and whether that SUV can pull customers like the Ferrari Purosangue and Lamborghini Urus have.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
