Porsche’s Future Plans Become Clearer At Today’s Conference
Is it an SUV or station wagon? Who cares? Porsche calls it the Taycan Cross Turismo. It was revealed today at its Annual and Sustainability conference in Zuffenhausen, Germany. We first got a glimpse of the Cross Turismo at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. At the time it was labeled “Mission E Cross Turismo concept. This is the first of what should be many offshoots of the Taycan. It should be hitting our shores some time in 2021. The Cross Turismo is what you might call a rugged wagon derivative. But there was more going on about Porsche future plans.
Porsche laid out plans for Macan and other products
Besides unveiling the next Taycan, Porsche revealed it will sell both the current gasoline-powered Macan and its electrified sibling together. This will be based on the PPE modular electric platform developed in conjunction with Audi. It plans on putting almost $6.5 billion in new EVs over the next two years.
Porsche is already putting almost $650 million into the current Macan assembly plant in Leipzig. It plans on building all versions of the Macan in the one plant. Currently, it outsources the chassis for both the Macan and Panamera. Keeping it all under one roof increases efficiency and profits, too.
Porsche is now saying EV production will increase to 50% by 2025
Porsche is now saying it’s banking on EV popularity to increase to 50% by 2025. It wasn’t that long ago it was saying both EV and hybrid versions combined would be 50%. So the electrification popularity looks like it’s got much more force behind it than Porsche was touting even a few months ago.
Other news from the conference included the business side of the ledger. Porsche sales increased by 10% over its 2018 figures. It sold 280,000 units with a profit of over $4.7 billion. No matter how many units Porsche sells its mandate is to maintain a 15% return on sales to help float the company.
The next 718 Boxster/Cayman will arrive in 2023
Porsche is also hoping to develop the new 718 Boxster/Cayman electric sports car soon. It will receive one update between now and then an all-new 718 for 2023. This will be the first Porsche to utilize the Sportscar Platform Electric or SPE platform. We’ve seen an early version of Audi’s SPE derivative coupe and if Porsche’s version looks anything like the Audi it will be very popular.
The motor will be positioned in the rear and be rear-wheel drive for the less expensive versions. A motor added up front makes it all-wheel drive. This will be for the premium versions.
Expanding into more mainstream segments gives Porsche the money to continue developing sportscars
There were some that felt Porsche was selling out when it developed its SUVs. It looks like this has helped it remain profitable and gave it the ability to also develop exciting sports cars that will cover a lot of territory. Europe has mandated aggressive fleet gas mileage caps with severe fines for those companies not able to meet them. So electrification is helping Porsche to make traditional sports cars under the much more intensive environmental landscape.
Expanding its portfolio has also enabled them to continue fielding race cars in assorted different venues. So in all, expanding into more popular lines gives it the freedom and flexibility to compete in the more hardcore motorsports fields.
