New Cayenne sold out for four months

Six years ago, when German sports car maker Porsche launched its first ever four-wheel-drive – a two-tonne-plus monolith – purists were up in arms.

But, as painful as this may be to read, it turns out the Cayenne is one of the automotive success stories of the decade.

Speaking at the launch of the all-new, second generation model in Brisbane overnight, the boss of Porsche Australia Michael Winkler revealed that the original Cayenne sold at almost twice the rate forecast.

"When the company did the initial projections, we did the business case on 25,000 Cayennes per year, with a stretch target of 30,000 Cayennes per year.

"We ended up doing 48,000 Cayennes a year in a couple of years – and the life average was close to 42,000."

If the Global Financial Crisis was the recession we had to have, the Cayenne is the four-wheel-drive Porsche had to have – to make it more robust in tough economic times.

Indeed, the huge profits from the Cayenne have enabled Porsche to reinvest in the sports cars that made the brand famous, build a new green-field production facility and have enough cash reserves to weather the recent financial storm.

The Cayenne now accounts for about half of all Porsche sales globally – and sales of its 911 sports car have increased since the 4WD wagon went on sale.

So it perhaps should come as no surprise that the new generation Cayenne is sold out globally – and in Australia – for four months.

Since production started in January, Porsche has built 11,000 new Cayennes – but it is currently holding orders for 16,000 vehicles, or about four months' supply.

In Australia, the order book is currently split between diesel (50 per cent), turbo V8 (30 per cent), V8 (10 per cent), V6 (5 per cent) and hybrid (5 per cent).

But that mix is set to change as the model matures.

"We typically get a strong order for the top end turbo whenever we launch a new model," says Winkler. "But we expect the hybrid take-up will be higher once customers get to experience the car.

"It was the same with the diesel. It sold modestly at first, but once people drove it, sales took off. Once enough people get to experience the hybrid, we expect it will account for up to 15 per cent of Cayenne sales locally."

The hybrid Cayenne – Porsche's first petrol-electric vehicle, jointly developed with Volkswagen – does not come cheap.

At $160,000 it is the second most expensive model behind the flagship $240,000 turbo V8 – and more than $10,000 dearer than the regular V8.

Significantly, the hybrid is 50 per cent dearer than the hugely popular V6 diesel (about $105,000) – and uses more fuel than the diesel.

The official fuel rating for the Cayenne diesel is 7.4L/100km – the same as the recently facelifted BMW X5 3.0 turbo diesel, and a Toyota Corolla hatchback – a 20 per cent reduction compared with the previous Cayenne diesel.

But the consumption of the Cayenne hybrid is rated at 8.2L/100km.

However, there is a marked difference in vehicle performance. The diesel Cayenne does the 0 to 100km/h dash in 7.8 seconds, but the hybrid Cayenne has almost V8-like performance (0 to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds).

"With the Cayenne hybrid we have also focused on performance, not only economy," says Winkler.

The Cayenne hybrid can be driven on its electric power alone for up to 3km if conditions are ideal (fully charged battery while the car is moving on a flat, smooth road).

The Cayenne hybrid still has the same 3.5-tonne towing capacity as the other models in the range.

The hybrid is the headline act of the new Cayenne range because it highlights the lengths Porsche has taken to cut fuel consumption. Most models have had their average fuel figures cut by 20 per cent.

On average, all Cayenne models are about 250kg lighter than their predecessors – although this has merely brought the Cayenne back in line with its German peers.

The first new generation Cayennes to arrive in local showrooms are the three most expensive models: the V8 Turbo, regular V8, and V6 hybrid. The V6 petrol and V6 diesel will follow next month.

New Porsche Cayenne at a glance
V6 petrol $103,500 / 0 to 100km/h: 7.8sec / 9.9L/100km
V6 diesel $104,,500 / 0 to 100km/h:7.8sec / 7.4L/100km
V6 hybrid $159,900 / 0 to 100km/h: 6.5sec / 8.2L/100km
V8 petrol $147,900 / 0 to 100km/h: 5.9sec / 10.5L/100km
V8 Turbo petrol $239,900 / 0 to 100km/h: 4.7sec / 11.5L/100km

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