The Porsche Macan was long the brand’s best-seller in almost every market, offering buyers a more affordable way into the Stuttgart marque’s lineup.
However, a decision to ditch the Macan’s petrol and diesel-powered roots and make it an EV surprised many, though a downturn in global sales perhaps hasn’t, with Porsche reportedly struggling to shift its battery-powered SUV in significant numbers.
Reports of the carmaker making a U-turn on its decision have circulated for months, but now it looks all but set to reintroduce a mid-size SUV with petrol power, even if it might not be called Macan.
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume this week confirmed the brand will launch a new SUV with petrol and hybrid power by no later than 2028, more than three years after the previous-generation Macan went off sale in Europe and a number of other markets.
European production of the internal combustion engine (ICE) powered Macan ended in April 2024, as the SUV no longer met newly introduced cybersecurity laws. While this affected Australian supply, it’s still made for markets such as the US.
Blume didn’t provide additional details about the new Macan-sized SUV, however he said it would be “Porsche typical”.
As previously reported, an alleged test mule was spied in Europe earlier this year, wearing camouflage despite clearly being an Audi Q5 - a car which had already been revealed at that point. However, it was flanked by other Porsche electric models, suggesting it was being benchmarked.
The Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture underpins the new Audi and is so far exclusive to the four-ringed brand, though the Q5 and Macan have previously been twins under the skin.
Audi’s Q6 e-tron, which is the Q5’s de facto electric alternative - runs on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture in the Macan EV.
If the Macan does make an ICE comeback on PPC, we can expect it to share some of the Q5’s turbocharged 48-volt mild-hybrid powertrain options, such as a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol, a 3.0-litre V6 petrol and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine.
Such a move, while important financially for Porsche, would prove to be a significant backtrack. In November, Macan product line vice president Jörg Kerner ruled out a move back to petrol power.
“In the Macan at the moment it’s not possible and it’s not planned,” Kerner said.
“At the moment it’s not planned - combustion Macan - because we think we can do with the electric Macan everything better.”
It’s also not yet known what impact Porsche’s reembracing of petrol power will have on the new Cayenne, also planned to go electric-only in its next generation.
