Porsche has been teasing the idea of a coupe version of its Cayenne SUV for a long time. While it was always a sort of “will they/won’t they?” type deal, as Porsche never really committed to it, it seems inevitable now. The BMW X6 is getting yet another generation, Mercedes-Benz is going to make another GLE-Class Coupe and now there’s the all-new Audi Q8. So a Porsche Cayenne Coupe, regardless of what Porsche-philes want, is a must-have for the brand’s lineup. Autocar recently caught some spy photos of the new Cayenne Coupe and it’s officially coming in 2019. (we don’t own the photos but you can see them here)
While Porsche is a purist’s brand, one whose SUVs makes its fans cringe, it’s probably the only German brand that has any right to make a coupe-like SUV. While BMW, Mercedes and Audi make fine driving SUVs, ones that belie their size and heft, it’s really only the Cayenne in its class that can genuinely feel “sporty”. So of all the big German family haulers, the Porsche Cayenne is the most deserving of a coupe iteration.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look great. The Porsche Cayenne Coupe was recently caught testing without any camouflage and, as much as I’m a big fan of Porsche, it seems like a big miss. I might be the only person on Earth that really likes the way the new Panamera looks (I didn’t love it at first but it’s really grown on me), so I was excited to see what Porsche might do with this Cayenne Coupe. But it actually just looks like a lobotomized Cayenne, like it’s had the back of its head chopped off.
It’s not ugly, it’s just not as exciting as I was hoping for. Still, it should be a great car. The standard Cayenne is already a masterclass in making a big SUV handle like a much smaller sports car, so if Porsche decides to make the Cayenne Coupe even sportier, the BMW X6 is going to be in some trouble.
[Source: Autocar]
