Porsche does about face on diesel, Cayenne TDI coming in 2009

In the past, Porsche has repeatedly played down the idea of offering diesel engines in their product line. The rationale is that oil burners don't fit the character of Porsche's sports cars. That may well be true for cars like the Boxster and 911 but the Cayenne is a different animal. Porsche has also said that the relatively low volumes of their models would make it hard to financially justify the development of a new diesel engine. Porsche is apparently now ready to introduce a diesel-powered Cayenne as soon as mid-2009. The Cayenne, which shares a platform with the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7, would take a diesel engine from the VW group. The Touareg currently offers a 5 cylinder, a 3.0L V-6 and a V-10 diesel while the Q7 is offered with both the V-6 and a 4.2L V-8 TDI. If a Cayenne diesel is launched it would most likely be powered by the 326hp V08 diesel.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]