Porsche’s design chief expressed his desire for the brand to venture into the realm of minivans, potentially drawing inspiration from the Vision Renndienst concept unveiled in 2020.
While Porsche may be best known as a sports car manufacturer, vehicles like the Cayenne, Macan, Taycan, and Panamera prove that it has a willingness to venture into new segments of the market. Porsche design boss Peter Varga recently spoke with Top Gear Netherlands and expressed his fondness for the Renndienst van.
“I really like the van from 2020,” he said. When questioned about the suitability of such a van for the Porsche brand, Varga responded, “I think so. It’s a nice car, it looks good, and why not? The van as a product, as an idea, or concept for a new car, is now very interesting in combination with luxury.”
Varga made the statement during a launch event for the new Macan in Singapore. He compared it to the Toyota Alphard and said such a vehicle could be interesting for the Porsche brand.
“Here [in Singapore], for example, you sit in the back of a van with large seats. You can go that way with a van. Perhaps for Porsche it is an interesting new product. That’s my personal opinion.”
If Porsche were to ever get into the van or minivan market, it would not be able to retain the same central driving position as the Renndienst.
Read: Porsche Vision Renndienst Is A Never Before Seen Electric Van Concept
“The only thing that wouldn’t work is the central seating position for the driver,” Varga noted. “It doesn’t work in everyday life. You don’t see anything at all, you don’t see the other drivers. It’s a great driving position for a race car. Maybe we can design the van with a normal seating position.”
While Porsche unveiled the Renndienst in 2020, it designed it and built a full-scale model in 2018. In early 2021, Porsche’s member of the executive board for sales and marketing, Detlev von Platen, said that building a production version of the van was not on the agenda, noting that “we are, we were, and we still will be a sports car manufacturer.”
