Porsche Macan | PH Carbituary

The big-selling Macan as we know it is gone - but not for good...

By Matt Bird / Saturday, 7 November 2026 / Loading comments

The launch of the original Macan at the 2013 LA Auto Show made total sense from Porsche. The Cayenne was already going great guns – the Macan project was first known as Cajun, as in Cayenne Junior – and so were small premium SUVs generally. Sharing some vital parts with the Audi Q5 meant going without the expense of a truly bespoke arrangement, allowing the chassis to be honed to an appropriately Porsche level – i.e. lots of initial reviews praised the Turbo for its power oversteer. Combine all that with some familiar Porsche design cues and the Macan sold like helles in October. Just for 52 weeks of the year.

And in fairness, with European legislation set to taper the sale of combustion cars, the launch of the Macan Electric seemed sensible as well. By 2024, EV tech had come an awfully long way (the thought of doing it just a decade earlier would have seemed mad), there was another Audi toolkit in the form of Premium Platform Electric to underpin it, and the Taycan had demonstrated that many would flock to an electric Porsche if it was good enough. At 10 years old, the combustion car wasn’t getting any younger either; the Q5 first appeared in 2008. Surely the ideal thing for the progressive, professional families who’d flocked to the first Macan would be to get the follow-up.

Only it hasn’t quite worked out that way. The old petrol Macan has consistently outsold the EV in the two years both have been offered concurrently, and only one range has expanded in that time. This wasn’t in the script - or not the script Porsche conceived when it began developing the car. Brass tacks: even at 12 years old, more buyers want a petrol-powered Macan than a battery-powered one. In the first nine months of 2026 – with production of the original version winding up this summer – there were 27,996 units delivered of the combustion car and 23,029 EVs. That 51,025 total is down 21 per cent on the first nine months of 2025. It’s a real pickle, to say the least.

Now isn’t necessarily the time to ponder why people don’t want an electric Macan as much as predicted. Some general factors will be at play, from cost of purchase to the cost of charging, as well as some Porsche-specific ones: even by Macan standards, the new one looks weird. Instead, as we bid it farewell, we’ll attempt to answer why people still want a petrol-powered one, sufficiently so to be buying a 12-year-old new car in 2026 – and for Porsche to belatedly declare that it will be replaced with something like for like, a model that absolutely wasn't in the roadmap when the Macan Electric was introduced.

The week after we shot this GTS, Porsche announced Sportwagenschmiede ‘35, the most drastic product strategy declaration in decades. Notable among a host of big announcements was the confirmation of another car quite a lot like old faithful: ‘Also in 2028, a new SUV in the B-segment will be presented, which will be offered in parallel with the current all-electric Macan. The new vehicle, featuring internal combustion and plug-in hybrid powertrains, is expected to make a noticeable contribution to sales and profitability in 2029 following the ramp-up of series production in 2028.’ This from a company which as recently as 2022 was aiming for more than 80 per cent of its new cars to be all-electric in 2030. Incredible – that’s how drastically and how rapidly things have changed. A car anywhere near as successful as this Macan is exactly what Porsche would love to have on its hands going into the 2030s.

And while it was a significant car in terms of opening up the Porsche SUV experience to a new subset of customers, what seems most notable about the Macan in 2026 is just how unrevolutionary it is. Perhaps that’s not the worst approach for another combustion-engined model to take. Sure, it was the best of the bunch to drive, but this wasn’t about reinventing the (GT Race-Tex) wheel. There was never any kind of hybrid offered, carrying capacity was only ever average, and following the big one meant that the Macan wasn’t groundbreaking for the brand in the same way that something like the Alfa Stelvio was. It was just really good - and came with a Porsche badge - in a very popular sector. Cayenne Junior by project name, Cayenne Junior by nature…

And you don’t need us to tell you how appealing a mid-2010s Porsche, updated and enhanced over the years, feels in the present day. Build quality is a cut above anything else in the line-up currently, all the important stuff thunking and clunking as you’d hope (and which not every new Porsche does). A proper gear selector will always be preferable (and worth the space sacrifice) to a thimble of a switch. Dials that are perhaps a bit boring to look at beat overdesigned every day. You sit low, with buttons and knobs where it’s nice to find them, without ever thinking that the experience would be improved by a passenger display or AI integration. Seldom, if ever, has a model that’s just gone out of production felt so suited to modern requirements.

The experience behind the wheel remains impressive, too. It isn’t the kind of SUV to defy physics like an EV, or turn every traffic light into a drag strip like… well, like an EV, but as something to operate and appreciate, it remains top drawer. There’s even some lag to work around these days, like a proper old-school turbo Porsche. The Macan may only have the space of a hot hatch, but in GTS format particularly, it really does drive like one as well: it steers keenly and satisfyingly, manages its mass brilliantly, and always seems to divvy up all-wheel-drive power as required. There’s the heft and resistance to the controls – plus the finesse in the chassis – to encourage driving as fast as 440hp will take you. Which is still more than fast enough, it turns out.

Especially with a seven-speed PDK helping out. On the face of it, such performance-focused transmission technology seemed at odds with the family SUV remit, but its immediacy and alertness are the perfect fit for the Macan’s feisty character. Once more, there’s no real desire for more involvement or capability than is on offer from the old dual-clutch and rasping turbo V6. As alternatives have softened over the years, so the Macan continues to offer genuine, tangible driver reward. Without overcomplicating things, either.

Dare it be said the Macan doesn’t even look so bad these days - at least not in the time of the latest Cayenne Coupé, the Mercedes GLC and whatever mess BMW has launched this month. And that's despite the Macan's fussier front end. Familiarity will have helped, of course, but in a world of overwrought, oversized and overweight SUVs, the Macan isn’t ageing badly at all.

Finally, despite finding its way into more homes than a Netflix subscription over the past dozen years (or so it can seem), Macan residuals have proved remarkably resilient. This hasn’t plummeted to bargain basement territory like the Cayenne, and is unlikely to now given its enduring popularity. Even to get a 2.0-litre Macan (which you don’t want; a Golf GTI engine can’t cut it) takes £15k; an early V6 S that first cost £43,400 is still £17k on PH. Early Turbos command the best part of £30k, the later GTS £30,000, and a 440hp car like this one (which is the one you do want) — either a 2019-on Turbo, or the 2021-on GTS that replaced it — is currently from £33,000. There are even diesel ones around, a fact that dates this car more than anything else. So while the Macan isn’t a Porsche to make money on, it seems unlikely to lose much either. Especially without any more being made.

All of which sounds like most of the desirable Porsches, does it not? Well-built, fast, good to drive and with sturdy secondhand values; the Macan just happens to be a different shape to those success stories that had preceded it. In offering up the right blend of sports car polish with just enough family friendliness, Porsche found itself with exactly the right car at exactly the right time. And although spending £100,000 on one now would be berserk, if your dependents are compact enough, then a used Macan (be it from 2015 or 2025) still makes a good deal of sense. Funny old world. For Porsche’s future success, the next Macan must pull off the same feat again – and you thought replacing the 718 twins sounded hard…

SPECIFICATION | 2026 PORSCHE MACAN GTS

Engine: 2,894cc, twin-turbo V6
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 440@5,700–6,600rpm
Torque (lb ft): 405@1,900–5,600rpm
0–62mph: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 169mph
Weight: 1,960kg (DIN)
CO2: 257g/km
MPG: 24.5–25.2
Price: £75,000 (price as standard; price as tested £100,500 comprising Carmine Red for £1,245, 21-inch GT Design Wheels in Black (satin gloss) for £NCO, 19-inch collapsible spare wheel for £282, GTS Interior Package Carmine Red (in conjunction with GTS Sport Package) for £NCO, Adaptive Sports Seats in front (18-way, electric) for £NCO, GTS Sport Package for £7,971, Panoramic roof system for £1,346, Roof rails in aluminium, painted in Black (high gloss) for £282, Electrically extending towbar system for £1,041, Sideblades painted in Black (high gloss) with ‘GTS’ logo in Black (satin gloss) for £NCO, Privacy glass for £385, Heated multifunction GT Sports Steering Wheel in Race-Tex for £NCO, Roof lining in Race-Tex for £NCO, Door sill guards in carbon, illuminated, including loading edge protection for £NCO, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake (PCCB) for £4,423, Surround view camera system for £602, Speed limit indicator for £213, Lane Change Assist (blind spot monitoring) for £477, Comfort Access for £525, BOSE® Surround Sound System for £963, First Registration Fee and VED for £65