McLaren Set to Merge with Forseven to Form McLaren Group Holdings

McLaren Automotive is set to merge with British start-up Forseven to form McLaren Group Holdings.

Following its acquisition by Abu Dhabi government-owned investment firm CYVN Holdings in late 2024, British boutique marque McLaren is now set to merge with British start-up company Forseven. Through this merger, a new conglomerate known as McLaren Group Holdings will be formed, while CYVN Holdings is set to take a non-controlling stake in its motorsport arm, McLaren Racing.

McLaren Group Holdings CEO Nick Collins (left) & chairman Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Al Zaabi (right)

This newly formed conglomerate will be spearheaded by Forseven CEO Nick Collins, while CYVN chairman Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Al Zaabi will be the chairman. Prior to this, Collins was a senior engineer at Ford and then at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), where he oversaw the development of both the Defender and Range Rover during his tenure at the latter.

Through this new partnership, McLaren is poised to expand its automotive venture beyond making boutique, mid-engined supercars, with the vast capital and technology resources harboured by both Forseven and CYVN allowing the Woking-based marque to go into uncharted territories of the automotive market.

This merger with Forseven will allow McLaren to venture into new automotive market segments, beyond the mid-engine supercars the Woking-based marque is known for.

Speaking to Autocar UK, Collins revealed that the first official details of the new-era McLarens will be revealed later this year, with the CEO promising “a bigger-bang event” that goes beyond this initial corporate announcement. While he declined to go into specifics in terms of any of the models planned, Collins did confirm that it will be a wider range of luxury models, possibly following in the footsteps taken by some of its adversaries, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini.

In charge of designing these new breeds of McLaren models is Collin’s ex-JLR colleague Alister Whelan, where he led a team of 50 people based in both the UK and Australia. Again, no details were given on how these new models might look, but the CEO did say that they will incorporate some design ethos from the current crop of McLaren models while using the aid of virtual reality (VR) alongside physical models.

“They’re really looking into the fundamental building blocks of British design,” Collins said to Autocar UK. “There are some amazingly consistent elements of British design, and particularly British luxury design, that permeate British brands. We’ve taken that, plus some McLaren influence, into where we’re going to go.”

As for the powertrain setup for these upcoming models, despite Forseven’s prior emphasis on EVs, the upcoming models for new McLaren models would still include high-performance ICE units, although the boss didn’t discount any possibilities for an all-electric McLaren model.

“The future of propulsion is multi-propulsion. The more luxurious the vehicle gets, the better electric is for it because it’s quieter and more refined. So it will play a role,” he told Autocar UK.

“We genuinely think you can make a brilliant electric car in certain segments, but through the way the world is transiting at different paces in different parts of the world, we will have different propulsion technologies to allow us to grow in the right way.”

With this new merger, both of McLaren’s production facilities in Woking and Yorkshire will be retained, with the new entity planning to integrate both sites together rather than let them operate separately.