Porsche’s Panamera sedan often seems to get shoved out of the media limelight by its more timely electric Taycan brother, the firm’s sexier sports cars, and the perennially popular Macan and Cayenne SUVs. But it’s a successful model in its own right. Sales climbed 13 percent last year to 34,142 units, putting it only fractionally behind the Taycan and making it twice as popular as the 718 twins.
So Porsche isn’t about to ditch its combustion sedan any time soon. Instead, it’s doubling down on its Panamera efforts and is getting ready to introduce a new car, probably later this year. These latest spy shots show a prototype wearing almost no disguise, and we can see the gently massaged front and rear lights and bumpers, that the filler cap has changed from square to oval, and that Porsche has applied tape to the side vent to try to trick us into thinking that it’s longer than it is.
The Panamera won’t be new from the ground up, but much like Porsche recently revised the Cayenne SUV to keep it fresh for the next few years when it will live alongside the genuinely new Cayenne EV, we’re expecting some significant tech upgrades for the liftback sedan and its Turismo wagon offshoot.
Related: Porsche Panamera With Center-Lock Wheels Spotted, Could Be A Hotter Turbo GT Model
If those mirror the changes made to the Cayenne, they’ll include uprated suspension components, Porsche’s trick new LED headlights, and a solid injection of horsepower. The Cayenne S swapped its 2.9 V6 for a 4.0-liter V8 at facelift time, lifting power from 434 hp (440 PS) to 468 hp (475 PS), and its reasonable to presume that the Panamera 4S, which currently uses the same 2.9 V6, will get the same package.
We can also guarantee some major improvements in the electric driving range of the line’s two hybrid options. The current Panamera 4 E-Hybrid uses the same 17.9 kWh battery as the old Cayenne E-Hybrid, but that was improved to 25.9 kWh for the refreshed SUV. Judging by the center-lock wheels on this car, a feature normally reserved only for Porsche’s most performance-focused cars, the currently 621 hp (630 PS) Turbo S is either in line for some tweaks or might be usurped by an even more potent combustion model along the lines of the Cayenne Turbo GT, which now makes 650 hp (660 PS).
This latest collection of spy shots doesn’t show the interior, but we know from previous sightings that it’s set to gain a new fully-digital instrument pack, an upgraded infotainment screen for the center console, and the option of a third screen above the glovebox like the one you can order on the Taycan and facelifted Cayenne.
