Porsche has done three generations of the Cayenne by now, two of the Panamera, three of the Cayenne, and four of the Boxster. (Don’t even get us started on the 911.) One of its top sellers, though, is still on its first iteration. And it’s still poised to soldier on for another few years – but not without some extensive revisions.
Now more than four years old and with over 350,000 examples sold worldwide, the German automaker best known for its sports cars is hard at work rolling out a mid-cycle facelift for the Macan. And it’s released this behind-the-scenes look at the work that’s going into it.
Part of the development process has taken the revised Macan prototypes to the rough terrain of South Africa – including altitude testing at heights of 3,400 meters (over 11,000 feet) above sea level. It looks like grueling punishment, but it’s just the kind of test to which automakers have to push their vehicles before they’re ready for production and distribution to customers around the world.
With newer rivals like the Range Rover Velar, Jaguar F-Pace, and Alfa Romeo Stelvio – to say nothing of domestic German challengers like the Mercedes GLC, BMW X3, and sister company Audi’s own Q5 – all vying to knock the Macan from its perch, the revised model couldn’t come a moment too soon. Fortunately Porsche has confirmed its release is slated to take place later this month in China. We’re looking forward to seeing the finished product once it’s ready, but in the meantime, this is the closest glimpse Porsche has provided of it yet, so check it out in the video below.