The McLaren 720S Is Dead
The McLaren 720S lasted about five years and reportedly will be replaced by a similar model that hasn’t yet been named.
The flagship McLaren 720S supercar ended production in December 2022 without a named successor, a spokesperson for the automaker confirmed to The Drive on Tuesday. The surprising end, which Automotive News first reported Monday in a surprise scoop, comes on the heels of the delayed launch of the Artura last year, and means customers no longer can order a 720S or 720S Spider.
The McLaren spokesperson declined further comment about the end of the 720S, but reportedly a successor is in the works closely related to the outgoing model. “…Putting two and two together. (Dealers and customers are) anticipating that it will be a refinement of 720. They understand that it’s not a next-generation, all-new, ground-up vehicle,” McLaren’s North American president Nicholas Brown told Automotive News. Given the financial cost of developing a wholly-new ICE platform on the verge of full electrification, it makes sense that McLaren is evolving the 720S rather than replacing it outright with something different.
The McLaren 720S is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that spins out more than 700 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. It sprints to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds and has been the basis for other production vehicles and one-offs, including the 765LT, 720S LeMans, and GT3 racing variants.
In contrast, McLaren’s newest production model—the Artura—is the brand’s first series-production hybrid and relies on a twin-turbo V6 paired to an electric motor and 8-speed automatic transmission. It dispatches the 0-to-60 sprint in roughly the same time and makes 671 hp and 531 lb-ft of torque, which is within spitting distance of the 720S.
McLaren declined to discuss the successor to the 720S, but Brown did say that it's already sold out well into 2024. We expect to know more soon about what's coming next.
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