Small SUVs: Competition heats up among luxury brands
Small SUVs, or crossover vehicles, are coming from Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes to cash in on the growing demand for crossovers. But some worry that Porsche's small SUV, the next-generation Cayenne, may hurt the exclusivity of the Porsche brand.
A 2012 Porsche Cayenne Crossover. A new version of the Cayenne is just one of a slew of small SUVs in production from luxury automakers like Porsche, Mercedes, and BMW in the coming years.
PrNewsFoto/Porsche/File
Porsche may be set to cash in on growing demand for听听with coupe-like styling, a segment initiated by the BMW X6, by launching its own version based on the next-generation Cayenne. If built, the vehicle would not only have the X6 to contend with but also Mercedes-Benz鈥檚 upcoming MLC based on the听听as well as a similar model from Audi.
According to听, the so-called 鈥楥ayenne Coupe鈥� is advanced in its initial design proposal stage but there are concerns within the company that additional听and SUV models may hurt the exclusivity of the Porsche brand.
"We have been considering launching a more sporting derivative of the Cayenne for some time now," a senior Porsche official is reported to have said. "The problem has been the production capacity at our Leipzig factory and the strong sales of the regular Cayenne."
If built, the听听would ride on the SUV version of the Volkswagen Group鈥檚 new MLB Evo platform, which debuts in the听听and will underpin the next-generation Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg as well as the听听补苍诲听. The vehicle would be the sportiest Cayenne variant, but will likely share its powertrains with the regular model.
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Expect it to have a low ride height, coupe-like profile and a five-door, liftback bodystyle.
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With the next-generation Cayenne set to bow around 2017, we may see the coupe version launched as early 2018鈥� if it鈥檚 approved for production. Note, Porsche will be launching a听听for the 2015 model year.