Thursday 16th February 2012

Porsche Macan confirmed

The baby Cayenne formerly known as Cajun is now official and called ... the Macan

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We knew it was coming and we thought it was to be called the Cajun. Indeed, just two weeks ago in a press release boasting of record production at the Leipzig plant that builds Cayenne and Panamera, Porsche itself referred to "a new small SUV with project title Cajun."

That, it turns out, was a bit of a red herring. Because Porsche has just confirmed that its new baby SUV will in fact be called the Macan. Ma-what? Means 'tiger' in Indonesian, apparently combining, we're told, "suppleness, power, fascination and dynamics." And in case you were in any doubt the Macan will be a "genuine Porsche."

Naming a car is a notoriously tricky task of course, Porsche choosing Macan on the basis that it apparently has to "sound good in very many languages and dialects and evoke positive associations." So hopefully no Mitsubishi Pajero-style issues here.

Porsche purists will not be greeting news of another SUV in the line-up with cheers but the Macan is at the core of Porsche's expansion plans and crucial in markets like China, where Cayenne and Panamera sales outnumber those of traditional sports car models by a huge margin. Indeed, of 118,967 Porsches sold last year 59,897 were Cayennes and the Leipzig factory where this and the Panamera are built produced 93,838 cars.

With nearly a quarter of Porsches built headed for China last year - a 64 per cent increase on 2010 - you don't need to be an expert number cruncher to figure out which way the momentum is taking Porsche. And it ain't towwards GT3s or Cayman Rs.

[Mermaid]

The Porsche focus groups probably based in China.

[Mermaid]

Wills2 said:

DannyScene said:

St John Smythe said:

They are a victim of their own success these days

I don't get this, why are they a victim of their own success?

Neither do I.

Porsche are very successful and profitable business because they make cars that people want and actually buy, but for some on PH that's just plain wrong and seemingly would have them go back to the model line up that nearly sent them under in the 90's.

Their target audience has changed, and so they have.

They have created new markets.

Their "old hard core" have not caught up, and in any case their numbers not growing as fast as the company. This old hard core believe manual boxes are the real deal, wen Porsche know they are not.

Flame suit on

[Mermaid]

Justices said:

Ferrari stick with numbers for most of their cars for a good reason. No international issues.

& BMW, Peugeot, Mercedes (some exceptions)

[Mermaid]

Richard A said:

Mermaid said:

Justices said:

Ferrari stick with numbers for most of their cars for a good reason. No international issues.

& BMW, Peugeot, Mercedes (some exceptions)

Well, I wasn't going to comment on this thread, because I've made my bed with air cooled Porsches and I get a lot of pleasure lying in it, i.e. Porsche can do what they like nowadays. But, yes, I've often pondered why Porsche's marketing department naffed out with their current jumble of names. I would have thought that mature, 'technical' numbers would have been better for Porche's image, even with today's range.

And how that aircooled was supposed to be the 901:

Porsche 901 was the name originally intended for the Porsche 911.
By the early 1960s, Porsche project design numbers had reached into the 19th century. For instance, Porsche's 1962 F1 model was called Porsche 804.
At the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (Frankfurt Motor Show) in Frankfurt in September 1963, Porsche presented its successor to the Porsche 356 as the 901. It took several more months until the cars were manufactured for sale to customers. Between 14 September and 16 November 1964, 82 cars were built [1] and the 901 was presented in October at the 1964 Paris Auto Salon. There, French car maker Peugeot objected to Porsche using any three digit number where the middle number was 0, asserting ownership of the naming rights in key markets, and having already sold many models with that scheme.
So, Porsche simply replaced the middle 0 with a 1, and called the car Porsche 911. Officially the 901s already constructed were used for testing and for exhibitions, and Porsche sold none to private customers.[1] Nevertheless, several of the cars retained by Porsche at that time appear to have made it to private ownership subsequently: in 2010 it was reported that car number 37 was owned by a Porsche specialist named Alois Ruf.[1]
Also, other Porsche models were affected, which were primarily intended for racing but also sold as road legal cars. Here, Porsche kept the internal part number of 90x, but sold the car with a name, like
Porsche 904 as Carrera GTS
Porsche 906 as Carrera 6.
Porsche enthusiasts continue to refer to these cars by their three digit design numbers.
Later, Porsche introduced pure racing cars which were not sold for road use, so not competing with any road-going Peugeot. These carried the design numbers
Porsche 907
Porsche 908
Porsche 909
Nearly three decades later, a 905 was entered in the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, but not by Porsche (which then had won over a dozen times already), but by Peugeot: The Peugeot 905 won twice, in 1992 and in 1993. A Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Diesel was entered in the 2008 event, and won in 2009. Peugeot never used the number 901, though.
Additionally, the 901 number is used among Porsche enthusiasts as shorthand to identify the aluminum 5-Speed transmission used in early 911s, the part number for these transmissions used an 11 digit code that began with 901 as did many other parts on the early cars. Later 911s from 1969 used a different magnesium case and a part number beginning with 911.