After making its mark on the luxury mid-size crossover segment with two generations of the Cayenne, Porsche is now pointing its guns towards the compact section of the premium segment with the upcoming Macan, a lightly camouflaged prototype of which, we spied on German roads.
If you’re looking at the interior and exterior pictures of the Macan and thinking “mini-Cayenne”, we will agree with you. We still can’t make out all the details of the front and rear ends due to the trick-plastic makeover, but the main difference from the Cayenne (besides the more compact dimensions), will be the sleeker-looking glasshouse with the more angled rear window.
Inside, those of you familiar with the second iteration of the Cayenne will experience another case of déjà vu as the dashboard layout and details, including, but not limited to, the large screen on the center console flanked by chrome-trimmed and vertical stacked air-vents, and the button-filled lower center console, all bring to mind Porsche’s larger SUV.
Underneath all that, you will find another iteration of VW Group’s MQB modular platform that has already been used in another form on several compact models like the new VW Golf Mk7, Skoda Octavia Mk3 and Audi A3 hatchback/sedan.
This particular version of the MQB platform will be shared with the VW Group’s next generation of crossovers, including the Audi Q5 replacement, with Porsche saying that it’s engineers will make sure to give the Macan much sportier handling characteristics.
As far as the engine range is concerned, Porsche hasn’t released many details, but we expect the Macan to launch at the end of this year or early 2014 (depending on the market) with a selection of naturally aspirated and turbocharged V6 gasoline and V6 turbo diesels, to be joined later by 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrols and diesels.
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