In a world where the Lamborghini Urus and the Aston Martin DBX exist, the thought of a supercar brand venturing into the realm of SUVs isn’t that far-fetched anymore. It’s not just Lambo and Aston, either. Bentley also has the Bentayga, Rolls-Royce has the Cullinan, and Ferrari has, well, something up its sleeve. McLaren, however, is resisting the urge to jump into that market. It’s said before that it has no plans to develop an SUV. That stance was reinforced recently by the company’s chief designer, Dan Parry-Williams.

I admire McLaren’s conviction. When everybody’s zigging to the potential of untapped riches, the British automaker is zagging because it just doesn’t want to travel down that road.

It certainly has valid reasons for doing so. As it is, McLaren is in the middle of pushing its “Track 22” strategy into the fold. The long-term plan sits as the foundation of the company’s future lineup of models, which includes 12 new McLarens that will be launched between now and 2022. We’ve known about this strategy for a while now, and in that time, the British automaker has given no indication that one of these 12 new models will be an SUV.

McLaren’s chief designer, Dan Parry-Williams, doubled down on the company’s position, telling Top Gear that “I’m not the first person to point out an SUV is entire particularly sporty nor utilitarian.” While he may find some objections to those comments, it tells you the position that McLaren is in. The British automaker has far more important models to develop, ones that fit into its long-term strategy. Unfortunately, an SUV isn’t one of them. Tough luck.

Now does that mean that we’re never seeing a McLaren SUV? That’s a different discussion altogether. Ferrari famously resisted the idea of building one, and now it’s in the process of having its own. Lamborghini also shot down an SUV in the past. Now it has the Urus. If there’s anything the auto industry has taught us, it’s that these claims of “never going to do it” last only as long as someone’s change-of-heart.

I’m not guaranteeing a McLaren SUV will eventually happen, but I’m not closing the door on ever seeing one.

References

Read our full speculative review on the 2020 McLaren SUV.

Read more McLaren news.