McLaren Automotive's latest two models from its Track 25 business plan are still set to launch in 2020, but product plans beyond those are now murky as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
McLaren's Track 25 business plan, launched in July 2018, called for 18 new models or derivatives by 2025. With the March debut of the 765LT, the fast-growing automaker looked to be on pace with a portfolio full of fresh sports cars. But the speedy product cadence likely will slow.
"One of things that's most intellectually challenging is working out the business plan, working out the plan for [20]21 and beyond and trying to forecast how the markets are going to be, what the appetites of customers is going to be," McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said on Automotive News' "Daily Drive" podcast this month.
"This will have interrupted our momentum," Flewitt said. "This will have cost us probably two years. [In] 2020, we're going to do very little. I think it'll take us the whole of '21 to climb back [to] where we are."
In Spain, where government officials have allowed some employees to return to work, Flewitt said half of the staff assigned to McLaren's developmental office outside of Barcelona are back on the job.
"We've constrained a lot of programs and we're focused on the programs that we're going to deliver through the latter part of this year and into next year," Flewitt said. "So [for] things like the 765LT that we announced earlier this year, we have got a small team working on completing the development of this car."
The 765LT is a more extreme and lightweight version of the 720S coupe, equipped with a twin-turbo V-8 engine with 755 hp and 590 pound-feet of torque. McLaren plans to build 765 copies.
The Elva roadster, a $1.82 million supercar with no windshield and a production run of 249 vehicles, is also on schedule.
"We have two cars to launch this year: 765LT and the Elva," Flewitt said. "And they're both on plan to be launched, though [it's] a bit more challenging than usual to get it done."
