McLaren mulling idea of an SUV, hints company CEO Michael Leiters

British hypercar marquee McLaren may enter the league of the exotic car brands that have adopted the SUVs in recent times. The automaker is currently mulling the idea of an SUV, as McLaren CEO Michael Leiters has revealed. A major driving force behind this discussion is the current CEO's love for SUVs. During an interaction with Autocar, get admitted that he loves SUVs and sees the segment as attractive and still growing. He also said that the prospect of a McLaren SUV is very much a subject of discussion at the company.

(In pics: McLaren Artura Trophy race car)

Leiter has been associated with other car brands like Ferrari and Porsche, where he was involved with the respective automakers' SUV projects. He also indicated that even if McLaren rolls out an SUV, it will come with the automaker's DNA integrated into the vehicle. He clarified that McLaren would not make any classic SUV.

Interestingly, rumours about a McLaren SUV were fanned by the automaker directly back in December 2021. It debuted a one-off electric SUV racer for competition in the Extreme E championship. Rumour is that the automaker is working on an all-electric SUV that will hit showrooms sometime later this decade.

Several automakers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Porsche adopted SUVs despite initial scepticism. For Porsche, the German automaker continues to see tremendous success with SUVs, with Cayenne and Macan sales far exceeding all other Porsche models combined in 2021. Lamborghini Urus accounts for over 60 per cent of the total sales of the company. Ferrari is poised to launch its first SUV in just a few weeks. Bentley has seen pretty good success with its Bentayga SUV. Clearly, McLaren would aim to see similar success with its SUV once it launches.