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09-01-2009, 11:59 AM
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Porsche's new owners at Volkswagen are aiming to make some big changes at the German sport car maker, including eliminating any models that aren't sports cars. That's right, both the Cayene SUV and Panamera sedan are reportedly on the chopping block, according to a recent report in the U.K.'s CAR magazine.
In an article an unnamed source says that Volkswagen's board has apparently voted to kill off both models after their current life-cycles, which should stretch until around 2016.
"VW Group has plenty of SUVs and saloons [sedans], it doesn't need Porsche to build them," said an inside source to CAR.
VW and Porsche CEO Ferdinand Piech is leading the charge to return Porsche to a pure sportscar company and leave sedans and SUVs to other areas of the 10-brand conglomerate. For our part, we hope the Panamera can live on in a second generation vehicle as some sort of stylish Audi.
This move is bolstering rumors that Porsche will bring to market a car something along the lines of VW's BlueSport Roadster Concept, that fits in below the Boxster. Ideally this new model would keep the Porsche brand pure, while enabling high volume sales.
More: Report: VW Board Votes to Axe Porsche Panamera, Cayenne (http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2009/09/report-vw-board-votes-to-axe-porsche-panamera-cayenne.html) on AutoGuide.com
Porsche's new owners at Volkswagen are aiming to make some big changes at the German sport car maker, including eliminating any models that aren't sports cars. That's right, both the Cayene SUV and Panamera sedan are reportedly on the chopping block, according to a recent report in the U.K.'s CAR magazine.
In an article an unnamed source says that Volkswagen's board has apparently voted to kill off both models after their current life-cycles, which should stretch until around 2016.
"VW Group has plenty of SUVs and saloons [sedans], it doesn't need Porsche to build them," said an inside source to CAR.
VW and Porsche CEO Ferdinand Piech is leading the charge to return Porsche to a pure sportscar company and leave sedans and SUVs to other areas of the 10-brand conglomerate. For our part, we hope the Panamera can live on in a second generation vehicle as some sort of stylish Audi.
This move is bolstering rumors that Porsche will bring to market a car something along the lines of VW's BlueSport Roadster Concept, that fits in below the Boxster. Ideally this new model would keep the Porsche brand pure, while enabling high volume sales.
More: Report: VW Board Votes to Axe Porsche Panamera, Cayenne (http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2009/09/report-vw-board-votes-to-axe-porsche-panamera-cayenne.html) on AutoGuide.com