McLaren executives preview updates to the successor to the 720S.

McLaren's 720S ceased production at the end of 2022 with no successor in sight.

Some might assume that the new plug-in hybrid is actually the successor to the 720S, as the new Altura will offer similar performance and looks to the 720S, but they would be wrong.

In an interview with Automotive News (subscription required) published Monday, McLaren's president for the Americas, Nicholas Brown, said that a successor to the 720S is planned and has already sold out through most of 2024. Dealers are taking deposits from some prospective 720S buyers after learning that the old car is no longer being sold.

Brown also hinted in an interview that the 720S successor would be an update of the 720S, not a redesigned from the ground up Artura-like design featuring a new V-6 engine, plug-in hybrid system, and new carbon fiber tubs. He hinted that it would be an update of the 720S, not a completely redesigned Artura.

"(Customers) expect it to be a refinement of the 720."

"They understand it's not going to be a next-generation, all-new, rebuilt-from-the-ground-up car.

The update approach is nothing new for McLaren: the successor to the 720S, the 650S, was a major update of the MP4-12C, which debuted as McLaren Automotive's supercar company. This is a common practice at rival Ferrari, which typically has a 10-year life cycle, during which it updates and renames its cars.

The 720S debuted at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show with a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 with 710 hp. A convertible option and a hardcore LT variant were later created.

The successor to the 720S will likely keep the V-8, but may augment it with hybrid technology. McLaren said in 2018 that it plans to make all its cars hybrids by 2025.