
Opinion: is an electric SUV really the answer to McLaren's problems?
McLaren's road car division has financial problems. Jethro reckons they should look to the Formula One team for solutions Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading
On the face of it McLaren has everything. A rich history including the most iconic road car of all time, nine constructors' titles in F1, a personal story that takes in humble beginnings, personal triumph, outrageous Can-Am racers and cruel tragedy. Plus, it is dominating at the highest echelons of motorsport once again and has just announced a return to Le Mans in the Hypercar class. Oh, and the 750S is one of the greatest supercars ever made. What a dream.
Yet it has just been taken over by Forseven. What is Forseven, you might ask? Well, quite. The LinkedIn page proudly states it is 'crafting unforgettable cars that blend British luxury with visionary technologies, forever". It's true that nobody has forgotten any of the cars. Mostly because the company hasn't actually made any.
Advertisement - Page continues below
Forseven is owned by CYVN Holdings, a fund backed by the Abu Dhabi government that has recently also acquired McLaren Automotive. It's 700 people strong, has a tech agreement with Chinese manufacturer Nio, is made up of notable ex-JLR staff and is described by the Financial Times as an 'all-EV British startup'.
Has your heart sunk yet? Mine too. To be fair, something had to be done. The road car division of McLaren has been haemorrhaging cash for years now and its former owner (Mumtalakat, the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund) has cried enough after some £1.5 billion of investment. It's been so disastrous that McLaren had to sell its incredible headquarters and lease it back to free up some money. You might like
Why the endless turmoil? I'm sure the full answer is deeply complex. But in a world where product is king, it can be boiled down to some very simple things: overproliferation of models in the early years; too many reliability woes; oversupply; cookie-cutter design. The knock on effect to all of this is historically poor residuals compared to Ferrari and Porsche's special models. Restoring buyer confidence when even fantastic cars like the 750S are half price seven minutes after the owner picks them up is very, very difficult.
How do you solve a problem like McLaren? I don't proclaim to know. But all the noises emerging from the dark recesses of the internet suggest Forseven's leaders hope the answer is, erm, an SUV with an EV powertrain. I mean, why not? It literally hasn't worked for anyone else, the entire concept is in direct opposition to McLaren's brand values and history and it doesn't address the real issues at hand with, for example, the Artura. But other than that it sounds a solid plan.
Advertisement - Page continues below
The wildest thing of all is that the one guy I would trust to turn McLaren Automotive around works within the same building. His name is Zak Brown. He loves cars. He gets McLaren and he's made the F1 outfit (which CYVN has bought a much smaller stake in) a winning operation with an intelligent, fiercely competitive and consistent approach. It took him six years to get it back to the top, with many ups and downs along the way. The road car division is an even bigger project, yet Forseven claims to have a turnaround plan that will be executed 'at incredible pace'. Oh dear. Zak... have a word, will you?
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox.
Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Alibaba launches open-source AI coding model, touted as its most advanced to date
BEIJING, July 23 (Reuters) - Alibaba has launched an open-source artificial intelligence coding model, called Qwen3-Coder, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The model is designed for high-performance software development and touted as its most advanced AI coding model to date. The model excels in agentic AI coding tasks, from generating new codes and managing complex coding workflows, according to the statement.


Top Gear
an hour ago
- Top Gear
Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Review 2025
You thought BMW was into big grilles? Just have a look at the faces of the current Aston Martin range. The new Vanquish Volante is an absolute stunner though, and everything about this open-topped, self-proclaimed 'Super GT' is big. The mouth itself is apparently 13 per cent bigger than the one on the previous DBS Superleggera Volante. That's to help with cooling, of course, but we reckon the designers didn't mind having to go large. There's also a 25mm wider rear track and an extra 80mm in the wheelbase compared to the old car. Heck, just look at the length of the carbon bonnet. Advertisement - Page continues below What's under that bonnet? Has Aston been downsizing? Absolutely not. Said bonnet hides a twin-turbo 5.2-litre V12 that sends a terrifying 824bhp and 738lb ft of torque to the rear wheels through an eight-speed auto gearbox by ZF. Aston freely admits that it wants this car to be just a little bit scary, and it's got the proportions of a proper old school muscle car. Oh, and if for some reason you can't see the roof, you'll be able to tell the Volante apart thanks to its lower rear lip spoiler. The floating 'shield' is still there on the rear though and can be specced in myriad different ways. So, is it fast? Absolutely. The Volante may be saddled with an extra 95kg over the Vanquish coupe thanks to the roof mechanism and some extra body strengthening, but it's still alarmingly quick. That should be obvious with an on-paper 0-62mph time of 3.4 seconds (one tenth slower than the coupe) and a top speed of 214mph. But it's the way it gets there that's so visceral, particularly if you spec the lightweight titanium exhaust option and spend 14-seconds dropping the neat 'K-fold' roof. Advertisement - Page continues below And it's not just straight-line speed either, the big Aston gets an e-diff on the rear axle and will go round corners too. Click through to the Driving tab of this review for all the detail. And it's not just straight-line speed either, the big Aston gets an e-diff on the rear axle and manages to shrink itself when things get twisty. This is a near two-tonne car so it's not the last word in steering feel, but it's got a sharp front end and drive modes that allow you to change its character. Click through to the Driving for a full debrief. Tell me more about that roof… Ah yes, that's why you're here isn't it? Aston has gone for a fabric top that can pop back up again at the touch of a button in just 16 seconds. You can operate it both ways at speeds of up to 31mph, and while stowed it sits at just 260mm tall so the rear deck can remain remarkably flat. It also has many layers of insulation, and Aston claims that it offers 'a level of thermal insulation directly comparable to Vanquish Coupe'. Blimey. How much does it cost? Prices should start at around £15k more than the Vanquish coupe, so you're looking at an entry price of around £345,000. Yikes. And you'd better ask the bank manager for even more than that, because the options list is endless and Aston says that over 70 per cent of Vanquish coupes sold so far have had some form of bespoke work carried out by its special Q department. You'll want to get in quick too, because Aston will only build 1,000 examples of the Vanquish each year, with the coupe and convertible both contributing to that overall number. It's probably worth noting that you will actually be saving yourself some cash if you go for the Vanquish over its main rival, though. That's the £366,500 Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider, which also features a whopping V12 engine but does without turbocharging. Your call. Failing that, the bargain bin option is the Bentley Continental GTC. Not something we ever imagined saying about a Bentley. Or a V8 hybrid with more power than a Le Mans Hypercar. But here we are. What's the verdict? ' It doesn't feel as though chopping the roof off has had an adverse effect on the ride and handling ' The Vanquish Volante's headline figures and muscle car looks might make you think that it'd only tell a bedtime horror story, but this is actually a car with a real breadth of ability. It'll sing you a nice lullaby too if you ask it nicely and stick with its softer GT mode. We're yet to drive it back-to-back with a coupe, but it doesn't feel as though chopping the roof off has had an adverse effect on the ride and handling, and it just means that booming V12 sound is even more accessible. Plus, even though it's a fabric roof you could still comfortably cross continents in this thing while still chatting to a passenger or making hands-free calls. Just remember to hang up when things get twisty, because with over 800bhp heading to the rear wheels, the Vanquish still has the ability to transform into a supercar that demands your full attention.


South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Hewlett-Packard lost hundreds of millions in Autonomy acquisition, judge rules
The technology firm, now known as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), sued the British entrepreneur for around five billion US dollars following its purchase of Cambridge-based Autonomy for 11.1 billion dollars (£8.2 billion) in 2011. The company claimed at a nine-month trial in 2019 that Mr Lynch inflated Autonomy's revenues and 'committed a deliberate fraud over a sustained period of time', which it said forced it to announce an 8.8 billion dollar (£6.5 billion) write-down of the firm's worth just over a year after the acquisition. In a ruling in 2022, Mr Justice Hildyard said the American firm had 'substantially succeeded' in their claim, but that it was likely to receive 'substantially less' than the amount it claimed in damages. He said that Autonomy had not accurately portrayed its financial position during the purchase, but even if it had, HPE would still have bought the company, but at a reduced price. A hearing was then held last year to decide the amount that Mr Lynch must pay in damages, before the businessman died aged 59 along with his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, and five others when his yacht, the Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily last August. On Tuesday, Mr Justice Hildyard ruled that HPE suffered losses amounting to £697,876,753 through the purchasing of Autonomy, some of which is set to be paid by Mr Lynch's estate. He also ruled that Mr Lynch's estate is liable to pay part of around 47.5 million dollars in damages, which is worth around £35 million. Some of the money is due to be paid by Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy's former chief financial officer, who was also sued by HPE. He was convicted in April 2018 in the US of wire fraud and other crimes related to Autonomy's sale, and was sentenced to five years in prison. While he has since settled HPE's claim, he could still be required to pay damages. A further hearing to deal with matters including interest, currency conversion and whether Mr Lynch's estate can appeal against the decision is set to be held in November. Handing down his ruling, Mr Justice Hildyard expressed his 'great sympathy' for Mr Lynch's family, calling his death a 'tragedy'. He said: 'It is a source of anxiety to me that I have to deliver a judgment that will inevitably cause further stress on those involved.' In the 197-page ruling, he said he considered that HPE's claim 'was always substantially exaggerated' and that the five billion dollars figure claimed 'was not based on detailed analysis'. Following the ruling in 2022, Mr Lynch, who was also the founding investor of cybersecurity giant Darktrace, was extradited to the US in May 2023 to face criminal charges after his removal was approved by the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel. He was cleared of accusations that he orchestrated a fraud and conspiracy over Autonomy's sale in the US in June 2024, and was celebrating the acquittal on his yacht at the time of his death. In a statement written before his death, issued posthumously by his representatives on Tuesday, Mr Lynch said: 'Today's High Court ruling reflects that HP's original five billion dollar damages claim was not just a wild overstatement – misleading shareholders – but it was off the mark by 80%. 'HP acquired Autonomy for 11.6 billion dollars and today's judgment is a view that Autonomy's actual value was not even 10% below the price HP paid. 'This result exposes HP's failure and makes clear that the immense damage to Autonomy was down to HP's own errors and actions. 'An appeal process will be considered later this year. 'The English civil case included hearsay evidence from the US and we were never able to question or cross-examine those witnesses. 'This is in direct contrast to the rights of defendants in the US legal system. 'When in the US criminal trial we were able to cross-examine the relevant witnesses, a very different story emerged. Why is the English legal system so trusting?' A spokesperson for HPE said: 'We are pleased that this decision brings us a step closer to the resolution of this dispute. 'We look forward to the further hearing at which the final amount of HPE's damages will be determined.' Jeremy Sandelson, who was appointed by the court as administrator of Mr Lynch's estate, said he would be 'examining the judgment carefully', including whether to appeal both the 2022 ruling and the judgment on Tuesday.