The McLaren Artura is a big deal for the UK supercar company. It's the firm's second-ever plug-in hybrid model, the first being the legendary and long discontinued P1. That technology is now available on McLaren's so-called entry-level model. Unfortunately, the Artura has been delayed yet again. McLaren initially promised Artura deliveries would get underway in the third quarter of 2021. That didn't happen. Now, McLaren says customer cars won't arrive until July 2022 due to the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage.

Automotive News has confirmed this with a McLaren spokesperson. "We held on longer than everybody else in terms of stopping production, but unfortunately, our semiconductor supply dried up," the spokesperson said. "That made us have to reduce production across the board."

McLaren's supply chain problems are not unusual these days as every automaker big and small has somehow been affected by the chip crisis. This is not an ideal situation for a carmaker as small as McLaren. The report further mentions the company intended for the Artura to account for up to 40 percent of deliveries in 2022. That's unlikely to happen now due to the late start.

McLaren has had some financial difficulties lately and it'll be very interesting to see how it intends to balance out the current predicament. The Artura, as a reminder, is the company's latest creation and is entirely new.

With prices beginning at $225,000, it rides on a new platform, comes powered by a new twin-turbo V6 paired to a plug-in hybrid system capable of pure electric driving, and a significantly improved interior over the 570S predecessor. The combined engine-electric motor output is an impressive 671 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque. Zero to 60 mph happens in only three seconds flat. Even with this latest Artura delay, there's still no 100 percent guarantee deliveries will begin this summer. Securing a sufficient chip supply, especially when fighting over them with larger automakers, is a difficult position to be in.

Hopefully, the delay will provide McLaren with sufficient time to get its chip supply secured. Artura customers won't want to wait around forever.