McLaren 570S costs £143,250 – and there’s a 540C that’ll cost £126,000

The McLaren 570S – McLaren’s new entry-level Sport Series car – will cost from £143,250, and there will be a softer McLaren 540C for £126,000.

The new ‘baby’ McLaren 570S officially arrived at the New York Motor Show yesterday as the new entry-level McLaren, and now we know that McLaren want £143,250 to let you play with their new car.

At that price, the new McLaren is just £6k more than the new Audi R8 V10 Plus and around £1,000 more than the Porsche 911 Turbo S.

In terms of performance there’s not much between the three, but the McLaren will offer an exclusivity that the R8 and 911 Turbo just don’t, which should be enough of an edge to let McLaren sell enough to hit its 4,000 a year target.

But despite the 570S being billed as the new entry-level McLaren there is another Sports Series car as well – the McLaren 540C.

The 540C is the Sports Series take on the Asia-only 625C, which means a bit less power and a bit more comfort, as well as a lower price – the McLaren 540C will start at £126,000.

However, unlike the 625C which is only available in Asia, it seems McLaren are planning on making the 540C a global model. It will be revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show.

Although McLaren has said there won’t be a McLaren lower down the food chain than the Sports Series, there will be plenty of variants to come to tempt buyers, and with the news that the 540C will be a global model it seems likely we will see Spider versions of both, perhaps a ‘GT’ version with a bit more space and a hard-core ‘Long Tail’ version of the 570S at least. Certainly enough for McLaren to turn up with a t least one ‘New’ car a year for the next few years.

The new McLaren 570S Coupe will go on sale in the UK next month with first deliveries later in the year.