No SUV ever, McLaren insists

British sports car maker McLaren will not follow Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini down the SUV path. Not ever.

McLaren Automotive’s head of design operations, Mark Roberts, confirmed to the Canadian International Auto Show that his brand would never make an SUV.

After being asked if McLaren would sit on the sidelines as Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley reaped the financial rewards of their heavyweight haulers, Roberts insisted it would.

“I can easily answer that and say ‘no’,” Roberts said.

“We really do deliver on the ultimate driving experience. For us, it means no compromise. An SUV doesn’t allow us to deliver on that. It’s not a no-compromise kind of vehicle.”

Yet there’s little doubt McLaren will inevitably come under pressure from the financial rewards and market growth of the genre, which has seen even the industry’s venerable old dame, Rolls-Royce, join the bandwagon.

It teased its Cullinan SUV in 2013, but only put it on sale last year. Already, though, Rolls-Royce has had to ramp up production at its Goodwood, England, facility and added 10 per cent to its 2000-head workforce.

“I would like to have a little bit more supply," Rolls-Royce Motor Cars North America CEO Martin Fritsches said.

"And I don't get it, because we are running on 100 per cent of production capacity, increasing the production capacity throughout the weeks and months, but still not being able to catch up to demand."

In an echo of the Porsche and Lamborghini experiences, Fritsches insisted at least half of its Cullinan customers were new to Rolls-Royce and were far younger than traditional buyers.

But neither the volumes (Rolls-Royce sold a record 4107 vehicles last year) nor the profits will sway McLaren, Roberts insisted.

Instead, it will launch 18 new vehicles (including special-editions) before 2025 and increase its capacity from 4500 cars a year to at least 5000.

"For a small company like McLaren, it’s a big deal and a big challenge,” Robert said.

“It’s putting a big demand on [production] to step up to demand and build more volume.”