autoevolution
 

Porsche "Armyun" Rendering Threatens All Luxury SUVs With Killer Performance and Flair

Even though Porsche are not exactly synonymous with off-roading, they are still a major player in the luxury SUV segment. It took a lot of nerve to manufacture this type of vehicle back in the early 2000s, when the Cayenne finally hit global markets. Some people hated it, others tolerated it. Thankfully for the VW Group, a lot of other people actually went ahead and bought it.
Porsche Armyun rendering 9 photos
Photo: Joao Kleber Amaral for autoevolution
Porsche Armyun renderingPorsche Armyun renderingPorsche Armyun renderingPorsche Armyun renderingPorsche Armyun renderingPorsche Armyun renderingFirst generation Porsche CayenneAll three generations of the Porsche Cayenne
At that point in time (circa 2002), people could barely fathom this type of vehicle wearing a Porsche badge, let alone something even smaller, like the Macan.

What about something bigger, though? A Porsche that would eclipse the Cayenne in terms of size, price, comfort, luxury, and on-board tech. Well, that would be ridiculous, right? And not just by early-2000s standards, but even just two or three years ago.

When the Cayenne was unveiled, it stood at pretty much the only size Porsche could get away with for this type of Sports Utility Vehicle. Besides, it had to compete with the likes of the Mercedes ML (GLE nowadays) or the BMW X5. It also had no choice but to utilize the same platform as the first-generation Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7.

The most important fact about the first-gen Cayenne was this: it delivered on its main promise, that of being the sportiest vehicle in its class, at a time when SUVs weren’t really all that fun to drive. Since then, Porsche’s flagship people hauler has stood as a true benchmark among its peers.

First generation Porsche Cayenne
Photo: Porsche
For an encore, the Stuttgart-based carmaker went with a more modern design, both inside and out, plus Hybrid power (regular and plug-in) and the addition of a Turbo S variant. Halfway through the second-gen Cayenne’s life cycle, Porsche went on to introduce the Macan, a compact-sized premium SUV with very few genuine rivals (at that time).

The Macan could shame pretty much everything you threw at it, including its Audi Q5 sibling or the likes of the BMW X3/X4 duo. Again, it was all about agility and driving dynamics. While the Macan did share a similar suspension configuration with the Q5, Porsche made several noteworthy modifications in order to create a completely different driving experience.

Enter the modern era

They then squeezed every bit of life out of the Macan nameplate, which is why the first-gen model is still with us after nine years. A thoroughly updated variant did arrive in 2019, featuring an overhauled chassis, new front and rear light units, better interior, better tech, and so on – but not before Porsche introduced a third-generation Cayenne, which went into production in 2017.

All three generations of the Porsche Cayenne
Photo: Porsche
This third-gen Cayenne was released on the same MLB Evo architecture as the Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga, Audi Q7/Q8, and the VW Touareg, and is available today with two body styles (regular SUV and Coupe SUV). It’s easily the most versatile Cayenne ever made, not to mention the fastest, safest, and most tech-savvy, if you will.

The Cayenne, as we know it, should remain in production for another two years or so, meaning that Porsche’s next brand-new SUV will be the second-generation Macan (expected this year), which will be fully electric.

Dreaming big

According to VW boss Oliver Blume, Porsche will reportedly build a third SUV that’s even bigger than the Cayenne. The product goes by the codename 'K1' and will “feature all relevant technologies for the future.” Unfortunately, no specifics were given, so we can only speculate as to what that means – but that’s alright, because speculating can be quite fun.

We can start by reminiscing about a report from 2021 which stated that Porsche dealers had been shown a new SUV model featuring a bigger overall footprint than the Cayenne. Descriptions for this vehicle included somebody saying it was “part sedan, part crossover,” or simply “very un-Porsche-like.”

Whether that ends up being true or not, remains to be seen. What should be true, however, is the part about its dimensions. It’s quite likely that it will feature enough room to accommodate seven individuals, and if anything, it should be powered by a plug-in hybrid setup right out the gates (battery-electric versions could follow later on).

Meet the Porsche Armyun

We didn’t want to just present you with an exclusive rendering depicting this upcoming full-size Porsche SUV. We also wanted to give it a name that at least makes sense to some extent.

Porsche Armyun rendering
Photo: Joao Kleber Amaral for autoevolution
To recap, the Cayenne was named after the extremely popular and spicy cayenne pepper. Meanwhile, the Cayman derives from the crocodile-like South American caiman reptile, whereas ‘Macan’ is a Javanese word for ‘tiger’. Lastly, we have ‘Taycan’, which derives from two Turkic origin words – a translation would sound something like “soul of a spirited young horse.”

What all these names tell us is that Porsche aren't afraid to get creative when it comes to naming their cars, and they will happily modify any source words by adding or altering certain letters in order for that name to roll off your tongue in a certain way. They also like their cars' names to end with a vowel and then a consonant, and if not, to at least sound as if they do.

After searching multiple languages and dialects, I put together a small list, which eventually led to me selecting a finalist and a runner-up. The runner-up was ‘Chatan’ - which is the Sioux name for “Hawk”.

It sounded good and it had a certain plausibility to it, but I felt we could do better from a creativity standpoint and push the envelope even further. That’s how I eventually arrived at ‘Armyun’, which is derived from the word “armunia”, meaning “harmony” in Corsican.

Porsche Armyun rendering
Photo: Joao Kleber Amaral for autoevolution
Furthermore, I thought that “harmony” works well for a vehicle that’s supposed to offer the best of both worlds – luxury and performance.

As for the styling of our rendering, you can’t deny that while it looks futuristic and imposing, the vehicle is also instantly recognizable as a Porsche. It’s clearly a little bigger than the Cayenne, but not by a great deal – it's highly unlikely that the real thing would rival a Cadillac Escalade or even a BMW X7 in terms of size.

It should, however, be somewhat comparable to the likes of the BMW XM, perhaps even the Range Rover Sport.

Waiting Game

At this point in time, there’s very little we can do but wait for Porsche to make any subsequent announcements about this new upcoming flagship SUV. Full-scale production is probably several years away, but if it can get here before the next-gen Cayenne does (circa 2025), that would be pretty darn exciting, wouldn’t it?
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Sergiu Tudose
Sergiu Tudose profile photo

Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories