Porsche Panamera News

The first picture of the four-door Porsche reveals a car which is clearly linked to the classic 911 but goes far further into the luxury world than the German brand has been in the past.The Panamera will not hit the road for nearly a year, but the first official image opens the action on car which has been scooped and papped for years during development everywhere from Death Valley to the Nurburgring.The picture shows the car much as it has been scooped, and still with its controversial rounded rear end, but with much cleaner lines and the sort of smooth detailing you would expect from Porsche.It is only a side-on shot, and probably not the powerhouse Porsche's best angle, but it reveals the reality of one of the most-anticipated newcomers of recent years.Why? Because Porsche is moving up and away from sports cars, and the giant Cayenne SUV which has been its cash cow in recent years, to give its existing owners a car for their greying years. It has space for a family but, just as important, will be easier to get in and out as well as giving a softer drive.It also takes Porsche deeply into BMW and Mercedes-Benz territory for the first time, although its real rivals are much more likely to be the upcoming Aston Martin Rapide and Lamborghini Estoque which are also being produced as morph machines by sports car makers.The first official picture of the Porsche Panamera comes just two months after a teaser shot from Porsche which only showed the car's nose, alongside the 911.And there is no confirmation of anything technical, even though the Panamera is expected to come with either a familiar flat-six engine or a new 4.8-litre flat eight with up to 400 kiloWatts under turbo power. 

Parameters set by Porsche pitch the Panamera as the leader in performance and comfort.Some company insiders say it will blow the competition wide open and set a new level for the luxury/limousine segment.Final development testing suggests the Panamera has equalled or exceeded all of its mission statements.Production is set to begin within a year and it is likely to arrive in Australia in late 2009.Specification levels for the Panamera, which is set to be unveiled at the Paris Auto Salon in November, and engine choices have not yet been defined for Australia. The early prediction is for about 150 units to be sold here each year.But if Porsche was serious about making a footprint on sales of rival German premium saloons it would start the range with the entry level V6. That would enable it to fight with Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW in the $180,000-plus price range.A V8 and a twin turbo V8 are also under development along with a hybrid version.The Panamera is principally set to target rival German long-wheel-base luxo saloons, the BMW 7-series, Audi A8 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Porsche is not acknowledging, at this stage at least, Aston Martin's forthcoming Rapide four-door saloon as a rival.Jan-Peter Hoffmeister, Porsche's transmission and drivetrain specialist, says the V10-powered BMW M5 was benchmarked for performance along with the Maserati Quattroporte while the Mercedes-Benz CLS was referenced for comfort.“We simply want to be the best in driving dynamics and driving comfort,” he said.No one from Porsche would commit to acknowledging that the well-received PDK double-clutch transmission has been used in development testing on the Panamera. 

The four-door Panamera is already causing ripples.

Porsche's long-awaited hybrid system has finally been confirmed as a production runner in the German marque's upcoming Panamera model.The new sports saloon, which will make its world debut in 2009, will be initially introduced with conventional powertrains but Porsche has announced it will be followed with a hybrid system.It will utilise components of the Cayenne hybrid, which is set to go on sale at the end of this decade. Porsche says the Panamera Gran Turismo is expected to average about 9.0 litres per 100km and can be driven in different modes, disengaging either the combustion engine or electric motor or combining both.The battery unit will be in the rear luggage compartment, while the hybrid module and power electronics will sit between the engine and transmission, with an additional clutch and the electric motor.It will be the fourth model series for Porsche and has roomy interior and muscular, sporty looks. The four-door will also have two single seats in the rear.

Porsche, the poster child for focused high-performance sports cars, is spreading its wings with a range of more utilitarian models. Having survived the howls of protest at the launch of the Cayenne SUV five years ago, the German performance meisters are well advanced in adding a four-door “sporting premium” model, the Panamera Gran Turismo.They are also promising a hybrid drivetrain for the Cayenne and possibly other models by the end of the decade.The company's Leipzig plant, where Cayenne is produced, has recently been expanded by 25,000sqm at a cost of 150 million euros to accommodate Panamera production, expected to run at around 20,000 a year.“The Gran Turismo will be an absolutely unique car ... which will once again significantly expand and broaden our worldwide customer base,” says Klaus Berning, Porsche's head of sales and marketing.“With the introduction of the Cayenne, Porsche has already successfully made the transition from a 100 per cent sports car specialist to a manufacturer of sporting premium cars on a far broader basis.”The Panamera, which will compete with premium passenger models such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS, Aston Martin's yet-to-be-launched Rapide, BMW's Concept CS and the Maserati Quatroporte, is expected to be on sale in 2009 just ahead of the promised arrival of the hybrid SUV the company has been working on for at least five years.“We have to be very careful to protect the brand,” says August Achleitner, director for the Carrera product line. “We are coming from being a small, very focused sports car manufacturer and expanding into a wider market. We cannot take risks with the brand in doing that.“The Panamera is not a substitute for the 911 but will be much sportier than anything the opposition have.” Achleitner has given a strong hint that what the hybrid drivetrain does within the Cayenne line may not be its only application. “We'll start with Cayenne and see,” he says. “All I can say is, it won't be the slowest Cayenne.”Porsche has been pushing strongly to be seen to take an active role in supporting the increasingly harsh emission control targets being set for European manufacturers.Whatever hybrid technology can be employed will help underscore that work."I can tell you here and now that before the end of the decade we will be offering a hybrid Cayenne, with average fuel consumption of less than nine litres for 100 kilometres,” says Berning. “Since 1970 Porsche has reduced harmful emissions of our sports cars by more than 95 per cent, in the past three years we have invested a three-digit Euro-million amount in the optimisation of our engine's fuel economy and emission management ... starting next year Porsche sports cars will fulfil EU 5 emission standard, not enforceable until September 2009, and EU 6 standard (September 2014). By 2012 we will reduce average CO2 emissions of our fleet by 20 per cent versus 1995."