Developed to replace the MP4-12C, the McLaren 650S was launched in early 2014 and it has already spawned a handful of versions, including convertibles, the China-exclusive 625C, a GT3-spec race car, and the limited-edition 675LT. Only two years have passed since the Super Series became part of the McLaren family, and the British company is already looking to replace it with an updated range. According to Autocar, a replacement for the 650S is due to arrive at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, exactly three years after the 650S debuted at the same event.

The new sports car will be first new model in McLaren's new business plan that includes a £1-billion investment for 15 new products by 2022. Codenamed P14, it will be based on a variation of the current MonoCell carbon-fiber tub and use a development of the company's ubiquitous twin-turbo, 3.8-liter V-8. However, the new sports car will be a significant departure from the current 650S in terms of design, which will incorporate radical active aerodynamics.

“It’s unpredictable. It will raise eyebrows. It’s got a lot of things that just haven’t been done in car design before,” said McLaren design director Frank Stephenson.

The cockpit has been completely rethought, the report adds, and will incorporate "an intuitive control system." Most likely McLaren is keeping things simple in the instrument cluster and center stack, and adopted a more race-oriented configuration. There's no specific word as to how many variants of the Super Series will be launched in the future, but a Spider and a higher-performance model similar to the 675LT are very likely. Also, the range could also get a hybrid drivetrain.

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Why it matters

Given that mainstream models hang around for five to seven years before getting a redesign, it may seem a bit out of place for McLaren to replace the 650S so soon, but it's not exactly surprising in the world of high-end, limited-edition sports cars. The MP4-12C was sold for about four years and it seems that Woking wants to keep that tradition alive, especially with the current market evolving so fast. The sports car market moves at a different pace than other segments and with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche updating their models every two or three years, McLaren needs to do the same in order to keep up. And, if the current 650S is any indication, the next-generation models will be a significant step forward in terms of output and performance.

McLaren 650S

Read our full review on the McLaren 650S here.