Macan name for baby Porsche SUV 4×4
IT’S not gone unnoticed at Porsche HQ.
All you small business owners, SME directors and posh business car drivers have been highly appreciative of the new Range Rover Evoque.
Well, so have we come to that.
Now, having seen the glowing reports and fantastic reaction to the Evoque – Range Rover’s ultra successful baby SUV – Porsche wants some of that action itself.
The new baby Porsche – a size down from the current Cayenne 4×4 – is to be called the Macan, Porsche has confirmed (February 16, 2012).
In fact, Porsche reckons it’s not so much an SUV but more of a sports car.
“The Macan combines all sports car characteristics with the benefits of an SUV and is a genuine Porsche,” commented Bernhard Maier, Porsche board member for 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.”
So there you are.
Originally Porsche had suggested its compact SUV would be called Cajun. But that was clearly to lead us up the wrong path.
More importantly, the new Porsche Macan – a five door SUV – will share its base architecture with the Audi Q5 and no doubt use a range of modified Audi engines. So it looks highly promising for business users and SME directors.
What looks exciting about the car is that Porsche has successfully – at least in this sketch – grafted the shape of the 911 Coupe onto the increased ride height of an SUV.
The new Porsche Macan will go on sale in 2013 and will be the fifth model in the Porsche line up, joining the 911, Boxster/Cayman, Cayenne, and Panamera.
The new Porsche Macan will be built in Germany at Leipzig, Saxony.