Photo: Porsche
When unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, Porsche didn't say much about the Mission E Cross Turismo concept. There wasn't that much to be said: it was obviously based on the same platform as the electric sedan expected to make its commercial debut next year, which means all it had different was the body.
And what a body it was. The front end was very similar to the one shown by the Mission E Concept years before, but the rest was completely new. It made use of Porsche's new design cues such as the light strip that connects the two taillights for great effect, but the real show-stopper was the perfect mix of sportiness and ruggedness offered by the slightly jacked-up station wagon silhouette.
It didn't look like a rock crawler, but rather a vehicle that could glide over any rough terrain at great speed. The Mission E Cross Turismo was met with almost unanimous acclaim, as proven by a Twitter poll launched by Porsche on the first day of the Swiss show.
The results show almost three-quarters of the nearly 13,000 respondents (74 percent) said they would like to see the Cross Turismo become a series model, and we suspect a large part of the 26 percent would have answered differently if the concept didn't have an electric powertrain.
Faced with such a positive media and market reception, Porsche now says it's still undecided whether the concept will make it into production. There have been strong rumors of a Macan-like electric SUV coming soon after the Mission E, so perhaps they fear the Cross Turismo would steal some of its customers. Because other than that, we don't know what could possibly hold them back.
The camp rooting for the concept to make the step into the real world has very strong backing from Michael Mauer, the Porsche chief designer. This is what he said during his presentation of the vehicle in Geneva: "It goes without saying that I would like to see that happen with this vehicle: our team has put its heart and soul into the Cross Turismo over the last two years. Perhaps that means I'm not very objective. What is important now is for us to see how the public responds to the vehicle and then we can draw the right conclusions."
The company published a press release yesterday titled "a look into the future" in which it talks very little about the Mission E Cross Turismo concept, but makes a compendium of what the most important automotive publications had to say about the vehicle.
We think Porsche knows all too well the Cross Turismo would be a hit for its EV range. What it's actually waiting to gauge is how the public reacts to the Mission E sedan release. If that goes well, expect the rugged station wagon version to follow at some point, as well as other vehicle types based on the same platform.
It didn't look like a rock crawler, but rather a vehicle that could glide over any rough terrain at great speed. The Mission E Cross Turismo was met with almost unanimous acclaim, as proven by a Twitter poll launched by Porsche on the first day of the Swiss show.
The results show almost three-quarters of the nearly 13,000 respondents (74 percent) said they would like to see the Cross Turismo become a series model, and we suspect a large part of the 26 percent would have answered differently if the concept didn't have an electric powertrain.
Faced with such a positive media and market reception, Porsche now says it's still undecided whether the concept will make it into production. There have been strong rumors of a Macan-like electric SUV coming soon after the Mission E, so perhaps they fear the Cross Turismo would steal some of its customers. Because other than that, we don't know what could possibly hold them back.
The camp rooting for the concept to make the step into the real world has very strong backing from Michael Mauer, the Porsche chief designer. This is what he said during his presentation of the vehicle in Geneva: "It goes without saying that I would like to see that happen with this vehicle: our team has put its heart and soul into the Cross Turismo over the last two years. Perhaps that means I'm not very objective. What is important now is for us to see how the public responds to the vehicle and then we can draw the right conclusions."
The company published a press release yesterday titled "a look into the future" in which it talks very little about the Mission E Cross Turismo concept, but makes a compendium of what the most important automotive publications had to say about the vehicle.
We think Porsche knows all too well the Cross Turismo would be a hit for its EV range. What it's actually waiting to gauge is how the public reacts to the Mission E sedan release. If that goes well, expect the rugged station wagon version to follow at some point, as well as other vehicle types based on the same platform.
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