Porsche Macan EV to get a petrol-powered SUV sibling in major U-turn

Porsche is developing a new SUV – powered by combustion and hybrid engines – as its electric-only Macan ambitions stall.

The sports luxury car manufacturer launched the Macan Electric last year, and delivered 18,274 zero-emissions SUVs in the final few months of the year. But in some markets – including the UK – sales of the long-standing petrol and hybrid versions will continue until production ceases within a couple of years.

Afterwards, Porsche will stick to its plan to sell the Macan purely as an electric SUV. But that leaves a gap in the brand’s line-up for a mid-sized SUV running combustion engines, and today Porsche CEO Oliver Blume announced a new model to fill that hole.

“We will be developing an SUV, a typical Porsche SUV,” Blume said. “The first drawings and concepts are being developed and they’re being enthusiastically received.”  

“Of course it will cost us money, but for the future it gives us extra flexibility,” he added. 

This SUV will not use the Macan badge and will be positioned as an “independent model line” with a “new design”, although one true to Porsche’s sporty character. 

With shared parts and scale critical in the car industry, the new Porsche SUV will tap into Volkswagen Group architectures. It can still be a true Porsche “working with synergies that we have from other models,” said Blume, who is also CEO of the VW Group. 

The outgoing Macan is twinned with Audi’s Q5, for example, sharing the PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) architecture, and the new Porsche is likely to tap into an updated version of that module.

When to expect the new Porsche SUV

The timeline for the upcoming SUV is not yet public, with Porsche only saying the new four-wheel drive would arrive by the end of the decade. That would leave a hiatus when Porsche does not have a combustion and hybrid mid-sized SUV, so the company will strive to keep downtime to a minimum. 

The combustion Macan is already off sale in mainland Europe because it doesn’t meet the region’s cybersecurity rules.

Slower than expected EV take-up has caused the U-turn, with Blume referring to the move as a hedge. “World regions are developing at different speeds in that [electric] transformation. So we need to look at individual segments and adjust according to regions.” 

The vehicle will be ideal for North America – the biggest market for Macan sales – as well as other regions that are slower to shift to EVs.

Porsche has already course-corrected with the new Cayenne: “We will have an ICE, a plug-in hybrid and a pure-electric version of the Cayenne coming to market soon,” said the CEO. They will arrive this year.

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