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.
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.
Porsche may be set to cash in on growing demand for听crossovers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recent Concept Coupe SUV听as well as a similar model from Audi.
According to听Autocar, 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crossoverand 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vehicle听would ride on the SUV version of the Volkswagen Group鈥檚 new MLB Evo platform, which debuts in the听2015 Audi Q7听and will underpin the next-generation Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg as well as the听new Bentley SUV听and听production Lamborghini Urus. 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facelifted version of the current Cayenne听for the 2015 model year.