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NEWSGOT A STORY Email our news editor will.rimell@haymarket.com McLAREN UNLEASHED BY SHOCK MERGER DEAL Merger with UK start-up Forseven will transform McLaren’s future line-up way beyond sports cars McLaren Automotive is to merge with British start-up Forseven in a bombshell move that will enable it to expand beyond making mid-engined supercars for the fi rst time. The merger secures the future of McLaren, giving it the capital, technology and resources to go into areas of the market that it hasn’t been able to finance itself. Forseven has been quietly assembling a team of more than 700 industry professionals, among them big-name designers, engineers and executives from other British car fi rms, and has been building towards the launch of a range of luxury models under a new brand. The common link here is the Abu Dhabi governmentbacked investment company CYVN Holdings, which has facilitated a merger operating under the McLaren Automotive name that will enable the models in development at Forseven to come to market under the McLaren badge. 4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 9 APRIL 2025 This gives Forseven a shortcut to market and gives McLaren the expansion and security it craves and the ability to better compete with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley. The official announcement confirms an autocar.co.uk story from February, which reported that a merger was being planned between McLaren Automotive and Forseven to enable McLaren to expand beyond its supercar range. The new combined firm, McLaren Group Holdings, will be led by Forseven CEO Nick Collins, who – in his only interview with an automotive title – told Autocar: “We’re about to embark on the most exciting British automotive story in decades.” Collins was previously a senior engineer at Ford and latterly JLR, where he oversaw the likes of the Land Rover Defender and Range Rover. The Forseven name had never been intended as a customer-facing one and will cease to exist. “It ’s just a holding name, and we’ve been building at an incredible pace,” said Collins, who became Forseven CEO in early 2024. The first official details of the new-era McLarens will be revealed later this year and Collins promised “a bigger-bang event” that goes beyond this initial corporate announcement. In the meantime, the company says work will “commence immediately” on a six-month turnaround
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“It gives McLaren Automotive the expansion and security it craves” N E W S of the existing McLaren Automotive business. Collins declined to give specific details about any of the models planned but confirmed they are a range of cars in the luxur y market at higher price points, which would make for a broader portfolio of McLarens than exists today. Our artist’s renderings accompanying this story imagine what some of those cars might look l ike. “It ’s not as challenging as you think to explore how the design language of this brand [McLaren] could evolve in the future and still maintain everything that they’ve already done and a lot more,” said Collins. Design work is being overseen by Alister Whelan, also formerly of JLR. Before Collins arrived at Forseven in January 2024, design models and feasibility studies for models had been created but he said: “We have evolved a long way since then.” The design team comprises around 50 people, and Collins said ▶ IMAGE Merger will give McLaren a line-up to directly rival Ferrari and Aston Martin 9 APRIL 2025 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

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NEWSGOT A STORY Email our news editor will.rimell@haymarket.com

McLAREN UNLEASHED BY SHOCK MERGER DEAL Merger with UK start-up Forseven will transform McLaren’s future line-up way beyond sports cars

McLaren Automotive is to merge with British start-up Forseven in a bombshell move that will enable it to expand beyond making mid-engined supercars for the fi rst time.

The merger secures the future of McLaren, giving it the capital, technology and resources to go into areas of the market that it hasn’t been able to finance itself.

Forseven has been quietly assembling a team of more than 700 industry professionals, among them big-name designers, engineers and executives from other British car fi rms, and has been building towards the launch of a range of luxury models under a new brand.

The common link here is the Abu Dhabi governmentbacked investment company CYVN Holdings, which has facilitated a merger operating under the McLaren Automotive name that will enable the models in development at Forseven to come to market under the McLaren badge.

4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 9 APRIL 2025

This gives Forseven a shortcut to market and gives McLaren the expansion and security it craves and the ability to better compete with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley.

The official announcement confirms an autocar.co.uk story from February, which reported that a merger was being planned between McLaren Automotive and Forseven to enable McLaren to expand beyond its supercar range.

The new combined firm, McLaren Group Holdings, will be led by Forseven CEO Nick Collins, who – in his only interview with an automotive title – told Autocar: “We’re about to embark on the most exciting British automotive story in decades.”

Collins was previously a senior engineer at Ford and latterly JLR, where he oversaw the likes of the Land Rover Defender and Range Rover.

The Forseven name had never been intended as a customer-facing one and will cease to exist.

“It ’s just a holding name, and we’ve been building at an incredible pace,” said Collins, who became Forseven CEO in early 2024.

The first official details of the new-era McLarens will be revealed later this year and Collins promised “a bigger-bang event” that goes beyond this initial corporate announcement.

In the meantime, the company says work will “commence immediately” on a six-month turnaround

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