NEIN sez Porsche: Roxster ain't going to happen
Fughedaboudit. That's what Porsche is saying about German magazine Auto Bild's claim the sports car maker is going to build a smaller companion ute to the Cayenne called the Roxster that would share its DNA with the upcoming Q5 from Audi. The Stuttgart-based automaker issued a statement that was originally reported on the Dow Jones Newswires denying the Auto Bild report. No reasons were given as to why the Roxster won't be built, which is odd since we imagine it would be an easy business case to make. Just like the Cayenne shares many components with the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg, the Roxster would also share parts with the soon-to-arrive Audi Q5, as well as other models in the Audi range like the A4 and A6.
And who is Porsche kidding? This is one automaker that can longer claim its brand is sacred. The Cayenne looks like the Bearded Lady wearing a ball gown and the Panamera also takes the Porsche identity and applies it to an odd form. The Porsche badge could be applied to a riding lawnmower at this point (and it would sell!). Regardless, the official word from Germany is that the Roxster is not going to happen, which will just leave more sales for the BMW X3, Acura RDX and Mercedes-Benz's new CUV, the GLK.
[Source: Road and Track]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stoneman 7:24PM (5/25/2007)
Rubbish. The Porsche name is perfectly safe. Those vehicles you listed can safely be smoked by a Cayenne S.
There are Porsche haters, wannabes, owners, and admirers. You sir are a wannabe hater.
http://www.stonemanautoreview.com
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col337 7:32PM (5/25/2007)
I think it is in fact going to happen. I think Porsche is lying. Remember when Steve Jobs denied the iPhone?
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phdbd 8:45PM (5/25/2007)
Kill it, oh please kill it. Mind your heritage and reclaim some credibility as a sports car manufacturer. Let the women and the soft in the middle glory hunters buy Lexus', X3's, and H3's.
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Barney 1:05AM (5/26/2007)
Gee! You mean Porsche isn't going to drop everything and come up with a car that a Magazine said they will build. Who would have thought.
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sinus 6:06AM (5/26/2007)
even this one is a porsche:
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/2035/porql5.jpg
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frondeur 12:02PM (5/26/2007)
I love it when people say "Porsche sold out with the Cayenne". These are the same people who drool over the 997 GT3 RS, adore the VTG of the 997 Turbo go on and on about the RS Spyder.
I hate to burst the Cayenne hatting bubble, but none of these things would be possible without the Cayenne.
And before anyone goes off about how Ferrari does it without a SUV, remember, the cheapest Ferrari is still more than a 997 Turbo, and besides, Ferrari is part of the Fiat empire...
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Dennis 12:15PM (5/26/2007)
As long as they keep on working the 911, Porsche will be fine. Remember the 924/928, no matter how good those were as sportscars, the hardcore will always support the 911, just like all these cayenne poseurs/owners right now. It is a fad. Porsche is and will always be about the 911 and if it needs other models to support it, fine. The rest will only understand after having driven a 911.
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Nellydesign 8:43AM (5/28/2007)
I have driven a 911 (on the track) and it's a wonderful car. But I'd use the same "drive it" logic you used for the 911 with the Cayenne. You can say what you want about the supposed "diluting" of the Porsche brand by the introduction an SUV. But after you've ridden in a Cayenne Turbo S around a race course being driven by a professional driver you realize how much of a Porsche it really is. It's pretty damn amazing. And even more amazing is that you can take the same vehicle on some of the most rutted, steep, muddy trails with nary a problem. I agree that the 911 is their bread and butter, but the Cayenne is in no way a dilution of the brand. It's an expanding of it.
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