Porsche has postponed the launch of its silent super wagon, the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo, until 2021 due to unforeseen customer demand for the Taycan electric sedan on which it's based.
As the first EV from Porsche, the Taycan is designed to be a high-performance machine first and foremost, but the high-tech zero-emission sedan has proved surprisingly popular with buyers -- even before it goes on sale here in December -- so much so that Porsche has pushed the back the launch of its wagon sibling.
Orders for the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo EV – spied here undergoing testing at the Nurburgring (where else?) – were originally supposed to open in Europe in late 2020 but have now been pushed out to 2021.
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said: “The change is no disadvantage for us; we just optimised the cycle plan,” for Taycan.
Although it looks as low-riding as the sedan, the Taycan wagon will actually be a crossover, featuring a slightly higher ride height and mildly flared wheel-arch extensions as seen on the 2018 Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo concept that previewed it.
While it won't be marketed as an SUV per se, the all-electric Taycan Cross Turismo wagon will be pitched as an all-terrain vehicle and will add a few other modifications to suit its adventurous pretensions, such as an adjustable ride height and more AWD modes.
The new Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo nabs much of the Taycan’s powertrain goodies, such as the twin-motor layout and fast-charging 800V electrical platform, and wraps it up in a wagon body style that will offer more cargo flexibility.
It’s expected to be offered with the 79kWh and 93kWh battery packs that afford the Taycan sedan a cruising range of between 365km and 420km.
The Taycan wagon will also likely get the same power outputs from the twin-motor set-up as the Taycan sedan, with S, Turbo and Turbo S models pumping out tyre-scorching numbers – 390kW, 420kW and 560kW respectively.
Flagship Taycan Turbo S models can accelerate to 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds.
Porsche Cars Australia’s head of product and smart mobility, Ingo Appel, previously told carsales the Taycan sedan represents a milestone for the brand and that customer interest was running hot.
“It’s definitely very exciting. It’s Porsche’s first EV and quite a bit of planning and work goes into getting ready for that. We’re thinking about infrastructure and getting the dealers ready. There’s quite a bit of focus on this topic,” he said.
Although Porsche has not officially confirmed the Taycan Cross Turismo for Australia, it’s understood that its local launch is a matter of when, not if.
Porsche’s all-terrain electric wagon can be expected to add a reasonable premium to the price of the Taycan of several thousand dollars. The Sport Turismo wagon of the facelifted second-generation Panamera announced this week, for example, commands a price premium of around $7000 to $10,000 over the equivalent sedan variant. For reference, the Taycan sedan is currently priced between $191,000 and $339,100.
While many car-makers have made product strategy changes and seen profits dwindle due to COVID-19, such as Lotus with its new $3million Evija EV hypercar, three global car-makers have prospered.
According to financial gospel Bloomberg, only Tesla, Toyota and Porsche have been profitable in the first half of 2020. In Australia, Porsche sales are down 6.2 per cent overall during the first seven months of the year -- significantly lessr than the industry average which is down around 20 per cent.
Sales of the Porsche 911 have slumped by almost a third while Porsche Macan sales are up by almost four per cent and the mid-size luxury SUV remains the German brand’s top-selling vehicle in Australia.