Porsche has already confirmed its new smaller SUV called Macan – and here it is. Our new spyshots of the Macan baby 4×4 reveal the size and shape of the new soft-roader to slot beneath the Cayenne.
The Macan goes on sale in early 2013 and will be built at the same Leipzig factory in Germany as the Cayenne. Hard to believe, but this facility is now ten years old – Porsche has now been building 4x4s for a decade…
Porsche Macan: what’s that name all about?
Over to Porsche. ‘The name Macan is derived from the Indonesian word for tiger and combines suppleness, power, fascination and dynamics – core characteristics of this new all-terrain car,’ says a statement from Stuttgart.
‘The Macan combines all sports car characteristics with the benefits of an SUV and is a genuine Porsche,’ said Bernhard Maier, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Porsche AG. ‘The name of a new Porsche has to fit with the brand, sound good in very many languages and dialects and evoke positive associations.’
Macan: an Audi Q5 under the skin
Just as the Cayenne is twinned with the VW Group premium off-roader set (VW Touareg/Audi Q7/and, soon, the Bentley EXP9 F), so the new 2013 Porsche Macan will rely heavily on the architecture of the Audi Q5.
Four-wheel drive will be standard on the Macan to deal with its higher outputs. At this stage, we hear a mix of 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre petrol and diesel engines will be offered, each in a higher state of tune than its Audi donor, while twin-clutch seven-speed transmissions will be offered alongside manuals.
Porsche Macan: could even be built in the US
CAR understands that Porsche may even build the Macan in a proposed new factory in America. It’s part of an idea to build certain US-centric VWs, Audis and Porsches locally in one of the biggest markets for SUVs.
While Zuffenhausen remains the home of the sports cars, the Macan and its Q5 brethren based on the MLB architecture could therefore be built in Tennessee, according to insiders contacted by CAR. They outline a potential 90,000 Volkswagen B-SUVs built in America, 60,000 Audis and 30,000 US-made Macans.