McLaren’s product expansion apparently has its limits, so says chief designer Robert Melville. In a conversation with Autocar, Melville effectively ruled out the possibility of seeing a new McLaren model sit below the recently launched 540C and take on other entry level sports cars like Porsche’s Cayman and Boxster duo.
The revelation doesn’t come as a surprise given how dramatic McLaren’s expansion has been. Just this year, the British supercar brand has introduced four new models, including the aforementioned 540C, which currently holds the distinction of being the company’s entry-level machine. That model is already being lined up to take on the Porsche 911 and the Audi R8, which, according to Melville, is as far as the company is going to go in order to retain its exclusive status.
McLaren has, for the longest time, resisted the temptation to go mainstream, opting to continue occupying the space reserved for supercar marques. But, with the sports car/supercar market evolving in recent years, the need to build “every day” supercars became paramount, hence the decision to introduce the 540C and 570S. As Melville points out, however, there’s a limit to this expansion and going down from the 540C is a line that McLaren isn’t going to cross anytime soon.
The introduction of both the 540C and the 570S already opens up McLaren to its intended market, so instead of moving down from these two models, the company is opting to move laterally and develop different variants of both models. Right now, a 570S Spyder is already in the works, as is a 570S GT version that’s going to look a lot different than its standard namesake.
So if anybody was hoping to get a brand-new McLaren that’s in the price range of a Porsche Cayman, don’t expect to see it in the foreseeable future.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
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