Porsche's new Macan SUV is expected to help push the company past is goal of 200,000 deliveries a year in 2015: three years early.
Seems like so many German automakers are making public proclamations about when they’ll reach a certain sales goal and sticking to them no matter what the market is doing, except one: Porsche.
Porsche executives said the company will reach its goal of delivering 200,000 vehicles…three years early in 2015.
The German maker delivered 162,145 vehicles in 2013, which was a 15% increase over the previous year largely due to demand for the Boxster and Cayman doubled. The company has introduced several new models in the last decade, such as the Cayenne, Cayman and Panamera, helping the sales numbers higher and higher.
The Macan Turbo is expected to help the German maker reach a new sales goal.
Porsche’s newest model, the Macan, is expected to push it past its previously predicted 200,000 goal next year. The small sport-utility is expected to sell as many as 50,000 units annually.
“We’re transferring the genes of the Porsche brand into a new market segment,” said Matthias Mueller, Porsche CEO, in a speech kicking off Macan production in Leipzig, Germany. “Porsche will remain a manufacturer of very exclusive premium cars.”
The Macan hits dealers in Germany in April and starts at about $80,000. That makes the Macan S about 25% less expensive than a similarly equipped Cayenne.
The German maker’s first-ever compact sport utility vehicle, it looks much like the aforementioned Cayenne, but it also borrows some of its style from classic Porsche design cues.
Aside from the classic swoops and curves, the Macan is certainly part of the Porsche family in one other very important way: performance. In fact, you can have your Macan in two forms: Macan S and Macan Turbo. The pair is perhaps better described as fast and faster.
The Macan S is equipped with a 3.0-liter V6 twin turbo engine delivering 340 horsepower. It features active all-wheel drive with an electronically controlled, multi-plate clutch. This all-wheel drive system is fitted on all Macan models.
A seven-speed double-clutch transmission helps the SUV go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds or five seconds flat with the optional Sport Chrono package. The Macan S reaches a top track speed of 156 mph.
The Macan Turbo is set to be the most powerful vehicle in the compact SUV segment. The 3.6-liter V6 twin turbo engine, which is being used in a Porsche model for the very first time, makes 400 hp and launches the Turbo from 0 to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. With the Sport Chrono package, shave of two-tenths: 4.4 seconds. The Macan Turbo’s top track speed is 164 mph.
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The name Macan comes from the Indonesian word for tiger, which according to Porsche means it’s powerful, but light-footed. Both qualities are important for a vehicle that, in theory, you could take off road. Porsche’s equipped the Macan with its latest iteration of all-wheel drive called Porsche Traction Management (PTM). Using PTM gives drivers unparalleled control while prowling the streets.
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However, if the mean streets are too mean, getting off road is doable at the touch of a button in the center console. In fact, it can be done as speeds as high as 50 mph.
If Macan sales cannibalize the Cayenne too much, don’t worry, Porsche’s $845,000 918 Spyder hybrid, unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show last September, can provide another bump in sales. The 918 goes from zero to 62 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds and gets the equivalent of about 72 miles per gallon, based on European fuel- economy data, which is better than the Toyota Prius.
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Also, the long-awaited decision on adding $250,000 sports car to its line-up to challenge Ferrari could be made by the middle of this year, executives said.