Porsche has ruled out building a future model cheaper than its new Macan, making the compact SUV's expected $80,000 local pricetag a permanent new entry into the brand.
Following the reveal of the Macan at the Tokyto motor show, CarAdvice asked Porsche head of production and logistics Oliver Blume whether the company would produce any model that would be cheaper in the future, to which he responded with a categorical "no".
The Macan will become the cheapest Porsche available when it launches in Australia mid next year, reducing the lowest price of Porsche ownership by a tipped $20,000 compared with the brand's current entry model, the Boxster.
Blume therefore also confirmed the company won't build a smaller SUV than the medium-sized Audi Q5-based Macan.
"It [Macan] is a good combination between sporty car and an SUV, but we won't go smaller," he told.
When asked directly whether he had a feeling the new cheapest Porsche would also become the best-selling Porsche, Blume answered "of course."
"The customers are asking 'when will you start with this model [Macan]?' and I think it will be a very big success for our company.
"At this moment it is the Cayenne [as the top seller], in future we will see. We are expecting 50,000 per year [sales worldwide annually for Macan], and the Cayenne is a bit higher."
Suggestions that the Macan is similar to the Audi Q5 with which it shares its platform are quickly dismissed by Blume.
"It isn't [a Q5]. The two cars are totally different … the development is completely different.
"You have to drive this car. We transferred everything from the 911 to this car. For an SUV, it is like a sports car…"
Blume claims that, unlike Cayenne, a hybrid version of the Macan won't join the range, though he admitted that a petrol-electric model "could be" added later, as it was with Panamera.
The head of production and logistics did, however, claim that electric power will become a bigger focus for Porsche in the future, with technology from the 918 Spyder set to be transferred to cheaper models, though not, he says, the 911.
"In future we will do something on electricity that's for sure.
"Therefore for the 918 Spyder … we are checking technologies to transfer them to other cars.
"[Electricity] might be a vision for future, but the thing is a 911 is living for its engine, the boxer motor, so therefore electric engines are something for Porsche in the future … [but] at this moment for the 911, I don't know".
