Porsche: Ferrari fighter ‘not cancelled’

Porsche has refuted claims its mid-engined Ferrari-fighting supercar has been cancelled - again.

Recent reports from European motoring media have suggested the flat eight-cylinder project - which runs under the codename 988 - has been binned.

But Porsche research and development boss Wolfgang Hatz told Drive at this week's Los Angeles motor show that the car is still on the company's wishlist but has been pushed down the list of priorities as it invests heavily in replenishing its current lineup.

"Cancelled is not the right way [to say this]," he said.

"We have not finally decided the SOP (start of production), so at the moment we have so many other things to do – to develop some entirely new cars such as Panamera successor and Cayenne successor and the next-generation of our sports cars, and on the other side new engines, transmissions and hybrids as well as the [Le Mans] racing program.

"So the workload is the critical point for us."

Porsche confirmed this week that it has closed the order books on its million-dollar 918 hybrid hypercar with the planned run of nearly 1000 cars already sold out.

Despite its success, Hatz said it has not provided any additional motivation to fast forward the introduction of the 988 even though it would appeal to a different set of customers with the likelihood that it will sell for around half the price as a direct rival for the Ferrari 458.

"I think it is not the right thing to do to produce the next car right after this one. It will take some time," he told Drive.

"[The] 918 was always a moon shot project in terms of technology and we cannot do all of that in just two years. There will be some time, but sure we will have to do something."

With additional models such as the 988 and mid-sized Pajun (or Panamera Junior) on ice, Hatz also denied that its parent Volkswagen Group, which derives a fair portion of its profits from Porsche to invest in its other brands, is holding the company's expansion plans back.

"No, we just have a workload which is unebelievable - and that's a major point of what we can do within the group," he said.

"Wait and see, because we are doing so many other cars in the future. It's really tough at the moment. A lot of work for us."