Porsche Macan: Name confirmed for new baby SUV
Until now it's been known by its project name of Cajun – a hybrid of Cayenne Junior – but this week Porsche has confirmed its new compact sporty SUV will be called the Porsche Macan.
Porsche has also released a sketch of the new Macan, which the German car maker says stems from the Indonesian word for tiger and will be released in 2013. Porsche Australia has confirmed it will add the Macan to its line-up in 2014.
The Porsche Macan will become only the marque’s fifth model line and its second SUV, following the large Cayenne SUV that was launched in 2002 to some controversy but has become Porsche’s best-selling vehicle globally.
Porsche’s sketch of the Macan reveals a five-door SUV that shares plenty of visual cues with its bigger brother, the Cayenne.
“The Macan combines all sports car characteristics with the benefits of an SUV and is a genuine Porsche,”, says Bernhard Maier, Porsche’s member of the executive board of sales and marketing. “The name of a new Porsche has to fit with the brand, sound good in very many languages and dialects, and evoke positive associations.”
The Porsche Macan will share some parts and components with the Audi Q5 mid-size SUV, and may well use some of the Q5’s same mix of petrol and diesel powertrains but in a higher state of tune.
A Porsche Macan Turbo and Porsche Macan Turbo S will also reportedly emerge down the track, using a Porsche twin-turbo V6 engine.
Expect a Macan Hybrid as well considering there's a Q5 Hybrid and a petrol-electric Cayenne.
The Porsche Macan will be built in Germany, at the same Leipzig plant where the Cayenne (and Panamera) are assembled.
The company will reportedly build about 50,000 Macans annually as it aims to get close to doubling sales from last year’s figures to about 200,000 by 2018.
0
