Malcolm Flynn
The mid-cycle update for Porsche’s top-selling and price-leading Macan SUV arrives in Australian showrooms this week, but only in base Macan and second-rung Macan S spec levels. We’re yet to even see production versions of the updated Turbo and GTS models that form the top end of the range.
This staggered model launch approach is nothing new for Porsche, with the third-gen Cayenne large SUV following a similar approach when it arrived locally in June last year, but did include the Turbo model.
The new Macan Turbo is tipped to use a version of the 2.9-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 found in the Cayenne, Panamera and V6 Audi RS models, which would downsize from the existing model’s 3.6-litre engine but likely bring significant output gains. The GTS is expected to continue to be positioned beneath the Turbo when it arrives, and therefore likely to score the Macan S’s now-single turbo 3.0-litre V6, but with more herbs than the existing model’s 265kW/500Nm.
The lack of Turbo and GTS options isn’t likely to upset too many Macan buyers though, with nearly half of all sold to date being the four-cylinder base car.
Nearly 70 per cent of Macan buyers are first-time Porsche owners, ticking the key objective of introducing people to the Porsche brand and therefore likely to move them up the range with successive purchases.
The German sports car brand confirmed overnight that the second generation Macan, due to appear in around 2023, will include an all-electric variant which will be the second EV in the Porsche line-up after the Taycan which will arrive in Australia in 2020.
The writer is Editor, CarsGuide
