HAVING JUST unveiled the new Panamera, Porsche research and development chief Wolfgang Dürheimer says the company has no plans to introduce another new model to its range, according to German motoring magazine Auto Motor und Sport.
Speculation has persisted in the German press that Porsche plans to create a niche for a smaller and more affordable machine placed below its Boxster roadster.
This would either be in the form of a compact SUV or a so-called “Baby-Porsche” convertible – the logic being that the company’s recent takeover of Volkswagen would facilitate such a strategy, as a common platform and underpinnings could be shared with equivalent offerings from VW and Audi.
Dürheimer is reported as having said that although the company works constantly on future projects, it currently has “other priorities”, and a “fifth model is not on the agenda at this time”, with the maker concentrating on its 911, Boxster/Cayman, Cayenne and Panamera line-up.
Pointing to lower profit margins in the high-volume sector – the territory such a model would occupy– he is quoted as wishing to preserve the exclusivity of the marque.
“Porsche will remain exclusive. If a so-called Baby-Porsche, regardless [of] whether a sports car or small SUV, stood on every street corner, we would do neither our brand nor our margins any good.”