2017 Porsche Panamera ‘shooting brake’ spied at the Nurburgring
The next-generation Porsche Panamera wagon, or shooting brake, has been spied during testing at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Unlike the current Panamera, which is offered purely as a five-door 'sedan', the new model will be sold as both a 'sedan' and a more practical wagon.
As we can see here, as well as in an earlier set of spy photos, the design for the new wagon is largely derived from the Sport Turismo concept that debuted back in 2012.
Under the evolutionary new skin, the second-generation Panamera will be the first car within the Volkswagen Group to use the Porsche developed MSB flexible component set for front-engine, rear- and all-wheel drive vehicles.
As with most new vehicles, the new Panamera will shed a significant number of kilograms thanks to the use of lightweight materials, such as high strength steel and aluminium.
Drivetrain options will include V6 and V8 petrol engines, as well as a V6 turbo-diesel and a plug-in hybrid.
The new Porsche Panamera hatch is expected to debut during the second half of this year, probably with an public unveiling at the Paris motor show in October. That means that the second-generation Panamera will go on sale locally towards the beginning of 2017.
Porsche will likely hold back the Panamera shooting brake by at least a couple of months, meaning that it won't make its debut until 2017 and probably won't arrive down under until late 2017.
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