Porsche Cayenne will won't will won't will get a diesel in 2009

The on again/off again story of whether the Porsche Cayenne will get a diesel engine seems to be back on again this week. Automotive News Europe is again reporting that a diesel-powered Porsche SUV is set to debut in March 2009. As previously reported, the Cayenne will use the VW group's 3.0L V6 TDI that is also coming to the U.S. late this year in the Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg. The 240hp diesel has an ample torque output of 369 lb-ft which is more than enough to motivate the Q7 and should have no problem in the smaller Cayenne. Audi, of course, is part of the Volkswagen group which Porsche has been steadily taking over. Previous reports suggested that the Porsche SUV, which was co-developed with Volkswagen's Touareg, might get a more powerful version of the engine. However industry insiders expect the engine to carry over from Ingolstadt (Audi's headquarters) to Stuttgart (Porsche's) largely unchanged. Porsche executives that have previously stated that a diesel engine would be out of character for a Porsche clearly have forgotten how out of character the Cayenne remains to this day. In the Cayenne, the diesel V6 should be able to achieve real world mileage numbers in mid-20s with ease.

[Source: Automotive News sub. req'd]

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