Future of McLaren: £500 million to triple supercar maker’s volume
Supercar maker will start building its own engines and create 1,000 jobs, thanks to a cash injection from Abu Dhabi owners
McLaren has kicked off an ambitious overhaul of its model line-up, primed by a £500 million investment in the group’s British R&D and manufacturing capabilities.
The funds – from McLaren Automotive’s owner L’IMAD, the investment arm of Abu Dhabi – should breathe new life into the UK company, which includes R&D and supercar assembly in Woking (alongside the Formula One operation), design in Oxfordshire and carbon-fibre tub manufacturing in Sheffield. At least 1,000 direct and indirect jobs should be created by 2032.
Announcing the investment in tandem with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, McLaren Group Holdings CEO Nick Collins spelled out what the investment would deliver. “The single largest part of the programme will be a new UK vehicle engine and assembly facility. It will support our long-term product roadmap, including our first ever performance SUV, a range of all new supercars, and for the first time in our history, the engines that power them will be designed and built in-house by McLaren people.”
The investment will also yield a new state-of-the-art paint shop, boosting lucrative personalisation options, and the increased vertical integration gives the firm ”greater control over quality, timing, supply chains, and the technology that makes a McLaren distinctive from first sketch to final sign-off”, said the boss.
The plan covers two new in-house engines and transmissions; production of the 750S supercar’s twin-turbo V8 and the Artura’s hybridised V6 has been outsourced to British supplier Ricardo.
But the SUV does not signal a move away from McLaren’s supercar heartland. While the limited-run 788HS begins the wind-down of the 750S series, new high-performance sports cars will follow, including the sixties-inspired McL 6GT in 2028. It mates V8 power with McLaren’s first manual transmission since the legendary F1 of 1992. McLaren is yet to reveal the precise timeline for its new model rollout, although new models are expected in 2027 and the investment covers a six-year window.
McLaren Automotive currently manufactures around 2,500 supercars a year, but the performance SUV – and the as yet unbuilt second factory that will assemble it – will push volume closer to Lamborghini’s annual figure of 10,000.
“If you consider the core line-up of three supercars and the occasional hypercar, that’s maybe a 3,000 to 4,000 car company,” chief operating officer Michael Straughan told us at the Woking announcement. “With an SUV – and you can do the maths on our competitors – that opens up a certain volume.” He believes it will boost the brand in markets less switched on to supercars, such as China. “For the first time ever, you can be a passenger in the rear of a [McLaren], which will open up different customers.”
The £500 million investment is Abu Dhabi’s second major move to shore up McLaren, having paid off the automotive debt – thought to be around £800 million – shortly after acquiring the business in April 2025.
Speaking at the event at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Jonathan Reynolds, said: “I’m genuinely excited to be here with so many brilliant members of the McLaren team, apprentices, engineers and those who work on production. I want to acknowledge the commitment that this business has to its apprentices and to skills and training.
“The Government very much welcomes your £500 million of investment and the impact it’s going to have, the jobs that it is going to create, the growth that it’s going to spur in South Yorkshire and here in Woking, and we want to do everything we can to unlock more investment like this.”
Some 3,000 additional vacancies should be created in the supply chain, news welcomed by Andy Burnham.
“[McLaren’s] investment will create high-quality apprenticeships, jobs and drive growth far beyond their factory gates. It is how you get skilled work, decent wages and pride back into a place,” said the PM. “It’s this kind of partnership between government and business that will help us reindustrialise communities and make every part of Britain better off. I want young people to see that and know there is a future for them in making things, wherever they grew up.”
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