Porsche says the replacement for its best selling model, the Macan, will not be offered with combustion engines. Instead, the second generation of this SUV will be an EV.
In a carefully worded media release, which just-auto contacted Porsche by phone to clarify, the company says, “The Supervisory Board of Porsche AG has decided to manufacture the next generation of the Macan as a fully electric series”. While there is no wording which clearly states that petrol engines will not be available, the model’s architecture is the electric-only PPE. Therefore, should the market not be fully receptive to the electric-only Macan, Porsche will have a major problem on its hands.
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By GlobalData“Like the Taycan, this compact SUV features 800-volt technology and is based on the Porsche PPE architecture (Premium Platform Electric) developed in collaboration with Audi AG”, Porsche’s press release goes on to state. Production will take place in the eastern Germany city of Leipzig.
The first generation Macan has been a big success (86,031 sold in 2018), so taking such a large gamble on the popularity of EVs in the 2020s is a gutsy move by Porsche. Controversial initiatives have worked out before though, the most famous of which was the scepticism which greeted the decision to create an SUV. The original Cayenne, launched in 2002, subsequently went on to become the brand’s best seller for many years.
No date for the introduction of the Macan 2 has been announced. This compact SUV entered production at Leipzig in November 2013 and a facelifted model began rolling off the line there at the end of August last year. Which means the PPE architecture successor will probably have its market launch in 2022.
28 February update:
The shock announcement on 26 February has led to insiders hinting that this is not the whole story. Even though that model’s platform is not compatible with petrol engines, for those customers who do not wish to have an electric Macan there will be a solution: the existing model will be given a second facelift to make it look like the EV and kept in production for some years. Both will be made in the firm’s Leipzig plant. Porsche may, in around 2022 or 2023, add a fresh SUV in this size class based on another Volkswagen Group vehicle as the true successor for the first generation Macan.
