Porsche unveils its new four-door sedan

By Bettina Mayer
Porsche has revealed details of its new Panamera sedan four months before the car makes its debut at the Geneva auto show.
 
When it goes on sale late next summer, the four-door Panamera will be one of Porsche's most important new products in years.
 
Porsche hopes the sedan will provide a much-needed boost in volume growth after the German sports car brand suffered two straight years of stagnation with annual sales at almost 100,000 vehicles.
 
Costing over 1 billion euros to develop, Porsche expects to sell at least 20,000 units of the sedan annually.
 
The Panamera will be the brand's fourth model, joining the 911, Boxster and Cayman sports cars and the Cayenne SUV.
 
Porsche said the Panamera will be wider and lower than comparable four-door models. It will be 1931mm wide, 4970mm long and 1418mm tall. The sedan, which could start selling at a price of 70,000 euros to 80,000 euros, is expected to compete with models such as the Maserati Quattroporte and Mercedes-Benz CLS, as well as the upcoming Aston Martin Rapide.
 
Klaus Berning, Porsche's head of sales and marketing, said the sports car maker will be targeting a new type of customer with the Panamera.
 
"We have to show potential customers that a family can fit in the car," Berning told Automotive News Europe at the Los Angeles auto show.
 
Berning said Porsche's 570 global dealers have invested a total of 1 billion euros to expand their showrooms to add the Panamera.
 
The last time Porsche launched a new model line was December 2002 with the Cayenne, which is now its best-selling model that accounts for nearly half of all Porsches sold.
 
Porsche said the Panamera's styling and details follow the design refined over decades on its iconic 911 coupe and later found in the Cayenne as well as the Boxster cabrio and hardtop derivative, the Cayman.
 
The Panamera will be assembled at Porsche's Leipzig plant following investments of 150 million euros to expand production at the site, which also houses the Cayenne production line.
 
Panamera body shells will be built and painted at a Volkswagen plant in Hanover.
 
Volkswagen will soon become a majority controlled unit of Porsche's European automotive holding company, Porsche Automobil Holding.
From: Automotive News Europe

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