A Four-Door Coupe or Merely a Low-Profile Sport Sedan?
BMW paved the way for Porsche's Cayenne when it introduced the sporty, car-based X5 to market in the last year of the previous century. While it could be
said Mercedes-Benz beat BMW to the punch two years earlier, the three-pointed star brand had long offered SUVs such as the G-wagon and Unimog, if you can call the Hummer-crushing utility tool a sport 'ute, so a precedent had been set.
Many loyal to Porsche's legendary sports cars were initially overwrought with emotion when the Cayenne appeared, some saddened, some angry, but most have accepted the super-ute, satisfied that it is one of the segments most powerful, making it among the quickest on and off the road.
While it could be said that Porsche's German rivals have once again paved the way for its fourth model, a new four-door sports coupe dubbed the Panamera, due to the similarly positioned 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS and an announcement by BMW that its own
take on the genre will be forthcoming (see automotive news section for May 9, 2005 - The Automotive Crystal Ball: BMW to Make an Off-Road Coupe?), its more accurate to say that the Cayenne is the true forerunner of this new model.
Not only is the Panamera expected to use much of the Cayenne's mechanicals and electronics, spreading manufacturing and future development costs of its V8 engine, 6-speed automatic transmission, and other Cayenne-specific technologies across a larger scale to maximize potential profits, but probably just as importantly, it won't be such a giant leap for diehard Porschephiles to accept a new "sedan" now that an SUV is already part of the family.
BMW paved the way for Porsche's Cayenne when it introduced the sporty, car-based X5 to market in the last year of the previous century. While it could be
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| Porsche isn't disclosing any specifics about its upcoming four-door coupe, and all we have to go by is a single artist's rendering showing the new model's profile. (Photo: Porsche Cars North America) |
Many loyal to Porsche's legendary sports cars were initially overwrought with emotion when the Cayenne appeared, some saddened, some angry, but most have accepted the super-ute, satisfied that it is one of the segments most powerful, making it among the quickest on and off the road.
While it could be said that Porsche's German rivals have once again paved the way for its fourth model, a new four-door sports coupe dubbed the Panamera, due to the similarly positioned 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS and an announcement by BMW that its own
 |
| The number of artists conjecturing Porsche's upcoming sport sedan have been many, and as it seems by the accompanying official sketch they're right on the money. (Photo: Artist's Rendering) |
Not only is the Panamera expected to use much of the Cayenne's mechanicals and electronics, spreading manufacturing and future development costs of its V8 engine, 6-speed automatic transmission, and other Cayenne-specific technologies across a larger scale to maximize potential profits, but probably just as importantly, it won't be such a giant leap for diehard Porschephiles to accept a new "sedan" now that an SUV is already part of the family.