Earlier this month, we told you about Porsche spokesman Hans-Gerd Bode's interview with Bloomberg where he discussed the firm's plans to unveil a new model at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit (January 10 to 23). Today, the Stuttgart-based sports car maker made it official by announcing that it will be giving a new model its world debut at the Detroit Show. Porsche, however, did not release any information on the vehicle.
As we previously noted, Porsche's debut could be anything from a successor to the 911 series, Boxster or Cayman, to the new Cajun three-door SUV and the production version of the 918 hybrid supercar, which is pictured in these shots.
It's been a good four years since the last time we saw Porsche at the Detroit Motor Show, otherwise known as the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), but the famous Stuttgart automaker is getting ready to make a big comeback at the 2011 edition of the event. Not only will Porsche make it to the 2011 NAIAS, but the company revealed through one of its spokesman that it is planning to premiere a “spectacular” model.
“We’ll have something spectacular to show there,” said Hans- Gerd Bode, a spokesman for Porsche, in an interview on Friday. “You’ll have to wait and be surprised.” As you may have guessed, the Porsche official did not reveal any other details leaving us with nothing but speculation at this point.
Aside from the already confirmed for production 918 Spyder Hybrid supercar, other new Porsche models planned for the not so far away future are the next generations of the 911 series, Boxster and Cayman, plus a smaller three-door SUV, the Cajun. We should mention here that a couple of days ago, Porsche released a press announcement stating that the firm's supervisory board gave the green light for the production of the Cajun.
Here's the statement:
"During its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, laid the foundations for continuous and successful growth of the company. The Supervisory Board instructed the Board of Management to drive forward the development of a further model series up to series production. Under the working name "Cajun", this efficient and sporty model will further expand the world’s most successful Porsche segment in the SUV sector.
In addition to the new Cayenne, which has clearly consolidated its market position as the most successful sporty SUV in the premium segment, the "Cajun" will also have a very positive impact with its typical Porsche features such as light weight, ease of handling and agility. As an attractive entry model in the Porsche world, the "Cajun" will attract new and even younger customers to the premium brand along with the Boxster, the market leader in the segment of two-seater, mid-size sports cars."
Of course, Porsche may show a completely different model including a concept vehicle of some sort. Feel free to speculate in the comments section below.
Even in this harsh economical climate, Porsche sales continue to grow, as the German maker shifted 21,218 units in the first three months of the 2010 short fiscal year (August 1 – December 31). That's an impressive 86.4% growth compared to the same period last year, although Porsche management admits that the prior-year quarter was "relatively weak", so a higher growth rate was expected.
Revenue amounted to €2.06 billion (+80.3%), while the company's operating result reached €395 million for the same three month period.
The new Cayenne fared particularly well with 10,292 units sold (+151%), followed by the Panamera with 5,778 vehicles and a growth rate of 94%. The success of the 4-door coupe is due to the fact that last year it wasn't available on all markets and the six-cylinder model went on sale in May 2010. The 911's sales were also up, reaching 3,130 units (+20.4%), while the Boxster with 1,089 and Cayman with 929 vehicles remained the least coveted Porsches.
The Americas lead in terms of regional sales, up by 82% and totaling 7,268 units, of which 6,632 went to North America. Europe is close behind (7,082), while Asia and the rest of the world are third (6,868), albeit with the biggest growth rate (126%), fueled by the strong demand in China.
"We can be satisfied with the key indicators of the first three months. Porsche AG is continuing on a profitable growth course" said Matthias Müller, chairman of the executive board of Porsche AG.
"Due to the order intake worldwide in the past few months, we expect a good double-digit return on sales in the short fiscal year from August to December 2010. With this current order situation, we also anticipate a good start to the new fiscal year 2011" Lutz Meschke, member of Porsche AG's executive board in charge of finance and procurement, added.
Porsche's sales growth also helped create new jobs, with the company currently employing 13,043 people, a 2.5% increase over July 2010.
Porsche has chosen the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show to unveil its finest version yet of the Cayman sports coupe. The new Cayman R is a stripped-out, lighter and more powerful variant of the mid-engined 'S' model. Porsche says that in its special alphabet, the letter 'R' is for "responsive and refined – but most especially for racy."
Stuttgart's team of engineers started off by eliminating any unnecessary items for purists such as the air conditioning, audio system and complex door handles -owners will have to do with simple door pulls on this German baby. Porsche says more savings were achieved through the use of lightweight components including the carbon fiber bucket seats and the lightest 19 inch wheels offered by the company weighing in at less than 40kg / 80 lbs.
Furthermore, the Cayman R gets a smaller fuel tank. As for the 911 GT3/GT3 RS and Boxster Spyder, an optional lithium-ion lightweight construction battery is also available. All said, Porsche's engineers managed to shave off 55 kg (121 lbs) over the Cayman S bringing down the total weight to just 1,295 kg (2855 lb).
Next on the list was a fine tuning of the Cayman S' 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine, which produced an additional 10HP lifting output to 330-horsepower with the torque figure remaining unchanged at 272lb ft.
In standard configuration, power is transfered to the rear wheels through a through a six-speed manual gearbox that propels the car from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.0 seconds. With the optional seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK), the sprint time is reduced to 4.9 seconds. But wait, that's not all. Porsche also offers the optional Sport Chrono package, which takes it to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.7 seconds.
The new mid-engine coupé is capable of reaching a top speed of 282 km/h (175 mph) with manual gearbox, and 280 km/h (174 mph) with the PDK. The company says it consumes 9.7 l/100 km (29.12 mpg imp.) with six-speed gearbox and 9.3 l/100 km (30.37 mpg imp.) with PDK on average.
The chassis set-up for the Cayman R includes a sports suspension that lowers the car's ride height by 20mm (0.79 in.) compared to the 'S' and a limited slip differential. Buyers can also opt for a set of ceramic brakes.
On the visual side, the Cayman R comes with an aero kit that includes a distinctive rear wing and a front lip spoiler, black-framed headlights plus special graphics on the side and mirrors in contrasting black or silver, depending on the body colour.
The new Porsche Cayman R will arrive in dealerships in February 2011 with prices in Germany set at €69,830 [US$95,050] inclusive of 19 percent VAT and country-specific equipment items, and in the U.S.A., at $66,300 [€48,700 at today's exchange rates].
We just learned that the new mid-engined sports model that Porsche announced for the LA Auto Show will be the Cayman R. Think of it as a more hardcore version of the Cayman S (pictured above) that has shed a few pounds here and there, and comes equipped with a mildly tuned version of the flat-six engine. According to our sources, the Cayman R also benefits from upgraded suspension and brake components as well as the necessary aero kit, bespoke lightweight alloy wheels and interior modifications. We'll bring you the full story and pictures on the Cayman R from the LA Show that kicks off tomorrow.
This just in; Porsche announced today that it will present a world premiere of "a mid-engine sports car" at next week's Los Angeles Auto Show. The Stuttgart automaker did not get into any details, but unless it's the production version of the 918 Spyder hybrid flagship, our guess would be it's either a special edition or a new version of one of the Boxster roadster or Cayman coupe models.
Alongside the world premiere of the mystery mid-engine sports car, Porsche's LA Show stand will also host two U.S. debuts, the 911 Carrera GTS and the 911 Speedster.
The new 911 Carrera GTS combines the 44 millimetre wider Carrera 4 body of the AWD models including wider track with a classic rear-wheel drive setup, and a upgraded 3.8-liter flat-six with 408 ponies.
The small series production 911 Speedster pays homage to the legendary 356 and comes with a 60 millimetre shorter windscreen and the characteristic double bubble on the convertible-top compartment lid. It also is powered by a 408 hp six-cylinder engine linked to Porsche's PDK double-clutch transmission.
A new and rather aggressive advertising campaign regarding the Nissan 370Z and GT-R sports cars has kicked off in Britain. The company launched a series of poster and print adverts highlighting the fact that both sports cars are better in terms of performance yet cost less than their equivalent German rivals.
And mind you, Nissan isn't being polite as the automaker is using tongue-in-cheek phrases in the ads such as "The Winner Hans Down," "The Germans Came Off Wurst," "Kaisers Chiefed" and "Deutschland Deutschland Über-Rated".
To further frustrate its German adversaries, the Japanese company took an Audi TTS bearing the slogan "More expensive, slower and less powerful than a Nissan 370Z" around the streets of London. It was joined by a Porsche Cayman adorned with the words "I dream of being as fast as a Nissan 370Z". Ouch...
"It simply challenges the convention of German sportscars being the only benchmark for performance and quality," says Steve McLennan, Nissan Marketing Director.
"Nissan is confident in the ability of 370Z and GT-R to eclipse our comparable German rivals in terms of outright performance and accessibility and it's now time to shout about it."
We still haven't seen the ads on the GT-R, but the 370Z print campaign, which will appear in key men's lifestyle and motoring magazines, plus outdoor poster sites across the UK over the next six months, includes other cars as well such as the BMW Z4 and the Porsche Boxster.
The first outdoor poster concerning the 370Z went on display on the huge 360-degree 47ft tall BFI IMAX billboard at Waterloo, London.
And just in case you're not aware of the 370Z's performance specs and how it compares against the German competition, below are two charts with the basic details, courtesy of Nissan.
