We Hear: McLaren Explores Idea of a Four-Seater

The McLaren lineup is great for going fast, but not so great if you want to haul four passengers. That could change, though, because the British automaker is apparently thinking about expanding its product portfolio with a four-passenger, 2+2 sports car.

Australia-based motoring.com recently interviewed Duncan Forrester, McLaren’s Global Corporate Communications Manager, who said the automaker is exploring a four-passenger model. “I think we’ll play with it, but I don’t think there’s much of an appetite for a family McLaren,” Forrester told motoring.com.

The obvious hurdle is developing a four-passenger platform. McLaren’s entire lineup consists of mid-engine two-seaters, but the report suggests the automaker could stretch out the 570S just enough to accommodate two more passengers, while retaining the sports car’s lightweight, carbon-fiber chassis and twin-turbo V-8.

Another option would be to go wider instead of longer. By going this route, the automaker could revive the three-passenger layout from the iconic F1 supercar, which featured a center-mounted driver’s seat flanked by two passenger seats.

“So that car is iconic,” Forrester told motoring.com. “So you’d have to look and think: how could you do that again? Do you want to do that?”

So while a three- or four-passenger model is a blip on McLaren’s future product radar, Forrester said an SUV is most definitely out of the question. “Today, and as far into the future as we can realistically predict, customers aren’t going to be coming to McLaren and saying ‘What I really want is one of these cars, but raised up about a foot.'”

Source: motoring.com

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