McLaren Automotive are just one in a long list of struggling British car brands which form a greater list of historical British car brands that have struggled.
But they’re not done yet – in fact, they’re planning on making a pretty big push into the ‘High-Performance Hybrid’ (HPH) market. Yes, that’s right, the same ploy that was used to generate excitement around the McLaren P1 is now back and modernised 8+ years later and that new model just got a name: Artura.
Now, I’ll make one thing clear: I don’t like this name. Here’s why.
McLaren is one of the few supercar companies that abides by a rather structured nomenclature system. Well, it’s not as well ordered as some others, but there are some general rules that they’ve stuck by.
Generally, McLaren use an alphanumeric naming scheme for their entry level ‘Sports Series’ cars and mid-tier ‘Super Series’ cars, reserving proper names for their ‘Ultimate Series’ cars, the GT being the one exception to this rule.
However, as McLaren Automotive have indicated before, the Sport Series will be discontinued, with the GT most likely being the new entry-point into the brand, followed by the Artura, then the Super Series cars (720S, 765LT) and then the Ultimate Series cars at the top.
With Artura being confirmed as the new car’s name, what McLaren Automotive is essentially saying is that their old naming convention is at an end. The only models still bearing alphanumerical names are the Super Series cars. How long this will continue for remains to be seen.
Is this a welcome change? We quite like how ordered it all seemed back then. But supercars are supposed to be special, so perhaps this was something their client base will enjoy. Anyway, here’s the press release with some fluff about the new HPH and its new name.
PRESS RELEASE
McLaren Automotive will bring the full force of its expertise in hybrid powertrain engineering to the supercar class next year with the introduction of the new Artura, a High-Performance Hybrid (HPH) developed with the benefit of more than half a century of McLaren knowledge, experience and engineering achievements in race and road cars.
All-new in every respect, the Artura marks the beginning of a new era for the pioneering British company. Building on the expertise in electrification first showcased in the McLaren P1TM hybrid hypercar unveiled in 2012 and more recently the Speedtail Hyper-GT, which entered production this year as McLaren’s fastest ever car with a top speed of 403km/h (250mph), the Artura is McLaren’s first High-Performance Hybrid series production supercar.
The new Artura marks the debut of an all-new compact twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine, designed to combine with an electric motor in a new lightweight High-Performance Hybrid powertrain that retains the performance benefits of McLaren’s larger capacity V8 engines and has the additional attraction of improved torque response at low engine speeds to deliver scintillating acceleration. The Artura can also run on electric power alone for everyday emission-free urban journeys.
The first car to be built on an all-new, platform architecture optimised for electrification and designed and manufactured in the UK at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, the Artura furthers McLaren’s commitment to super-lightweight engineering principles that have their roots in motorsport. The additional mass of the High-Performance Hybrid system, for example, has been largely offset by the application of weight-saving technologies throughout the chassis, body and powertrain. Additionally, the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) at the heart of the Artura not only enables the car’s class-leading weight advantage, it is also the base for the dynamic excellence inherent in every McLaren.
Further details about the all-new McLaren Artura will be revealed over the coming months and customers who would like to be kept informed can either register their interest with a McLaren retailer or go to https://cars.mclaren.com.
