Photo: Theophilus Chin
Porsche is no longer the company that made those small 2-seater sportscars that wanted to swap ends and kill you. The Zuffenhausen people now sell more Cayennes than 911s and their Panamera luxury limousine is more desirable than the Boxster.
As you might expect, company bosses have no intention of stopping here and want an entry-level model to be added to the range by 2020. "But they canceled the 550 roadster they were supposed to develop with VW and Audi," we hear you say.
Yes, but this entry-level car is a little different. According to a recent Auto Bild report, the German automaker will show a concept for a smaller SUV in about two years, swiftly moving into production after that. According to the source, styling will be even more aggressive than on the Macan, and the roof line will be rakish.
No American consumer ever said the Macan is too big. Also, the cheaper the car, the smaller your chances of making a profit are, which is why Porsche has resisted the urge to make an entry-level sportscar.
Making this rumor even more fishy is the fact that this baby Macan will be RWD in base form. You can't do that with the Audi Q5 or Q3 platforms, so Porsche might have to develop its own architecture because nobody else has what it takes to make it happen within the Volkswagen Group.
In addition, the roadster project is still on, according to this report. Under the codename Project 551, a two-door that slots under the Boxster will arrive in a few years, carrying a starting price of €37,000 in Germany. That's well below the €51,000 of the current Boxster model.
Power will be provided by a four-cylinder turbocharged engine developing 180, 210 or 240 PS. However, since Audi and Volkswagen have withdrawn from this project, Porsche will have to do all the engineering and development work by itself.
Yes, but this entry-level car is a little different. According to a recent Auto Bild report, the German automaker will show a concept for a smaller SUV in about two years, swiftly moving into production after that. According to the source, styling will be even more aggressive than on the Macan, and the roof line will be rakish.
No American consumer ever said the Macan is too big. Also, the cheaper the car, the smaller your chances of making a profit are, which is why Porsche has resisted the urge to make an entry-level sportscar.
Making this rumor even more fishy is the fact that this baby Macan will be RWD in base form. You can't do that with the Audi Q5 or Q3 platforms, so Porsche might have to develop its own architecture because nobody else has what it takes to make it happen within the Volkswagen Group.
In addition, the roadster project is still on, according to this report. Under the codename Project 551, a two-door that slots under the Boxster will arrive in a few years, carrying a starting price of €37,000 in Germany. That's well below the €51,000 of the current Boxster model.
Power will be provided by a four-cylinder turbocharged engine developing 180, 210 or 240 PS. However, since Audi and Volkswagen have withdrawn from this project, Porsche will have to do all the engineering and development work by itself.
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