How the Taycan's success will ensure the 2025 Porsche Macan electric car will be a top seller, as it takes on Tesla Model Y, Polestar 3 and BMW iX3 

The instant success of Porsche’s first ever EV, the Taycan four-door sedan, has paved the way for a successful launch of the upcoming Macan electric in Australia, according to Porsche’s local boss.

The all-new Macan electric made its debut in late January, and will initially be offered in two flavours Down Under - the $133,700 (before on-road costs) Macan 4 and $180,100 for the somewhat deceptively named Macan Turbo - both of which will land in late 2024.

While fellow premium marques have had mixed success with their battery-electric models, Porsche was on to a winner as soon as it launched the Taycan in early 2021.

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According to Porsche Cars Australia CEO and Managing Director Daniel Schmollinger, the Taycan’s immediate appeal with local buyers bodes well for the first electric Macan.

“We started three years ago with the Taycan. Obviously there were some question marks if the Taycan is the right fit for the market, especially in Australia that is petrol oriented, let's put it like this," Schmollinger told journalists at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne..

The current-gen ICE Macan will be on sale for a while yet.

“And the success we saw with the Taycan over the last three years was actually outstanding. It actually exceeded our expectations. We reached roughly 10 per cent share within our model range with it, which is … from a global point of view, an outstanding result. And based on this we have strong beliefs that the Macan electric will follow this path and to be also very successful.”

This year marks 10 years of sales of the original internal-combustion Macan, although it has had several updates in that time, including a significant overhaul with a fresh interior in 2021.

It has become the German brand’s biggest seller in Australia by a big margin, and it has, in the past, been Porsche’s global top seller. Although it was beaten by just 198 sales last year by the refreshed Cayenne.

The new electric Macan will sell alongside the outgoing petrol-powered model for a while, but it’s not expected to be as long as originally thought.

Schmolloinger was vague on the timing of this, suggesting it will depend on how quickly the final ICE Macans sell in Australia, adding, “we don't have a specific time when it's only electric”.

A Porsche Cars Australia spokesperson has previously told CarsGuide that production of ICE Macans will end in quarter three this year, and factory orders will be taken up to the middle of this year, depending on when the allocation is exhausted.

In terms of supply, Schmollinger said the Australian market was in a good position.

“We have good allocation," he said.

“For us it's about demand and supply. So we will not flood the market, we will not have to guess, we will try to have exactly the right number of cars in order to develop this as a typical Porsche.”

Schmollinger would not be drawn on whether the electric Macan would become the brand’s top-selling model, given its positioning in the high-volume medium SUV segment, only saying: “Whatever top selling means, we have a strong belief that the Macan electric will be great.

“And we just came from Singapore where we drove the car. We saw this reaction with our dealers last week, so once you see the car, once you touch the car and once you drive it, there was no doubt with our dealers that this will be successful.

“So the dynamics, the chassis setup, the rear-wheel steering, the power, and the range, everything the car has is next level and I'm totally confident if we put customers in front of this car and in the car, they will be overwhelmed by what an electric car can be.”