For the primary time in its history, Porsche could send more power to the front wheels of a brand new model when it launches the belated successor for its original internal combustion engined (ICE) Macan.
In accordance with Autocar, the substitute for the combustion-powered Macan, codenamed ‘M1’, will share its Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) underpinnings with the brand new, third-generation Audi Q5 that’s on account of arrive in Australia by the top of 2025.
Each Porsche and Audi are a part of the broader Volkswagen Group, and Porsche has confirmed it’s developing a newly named mid-size (Macan-size) SUV to be sold alongside the all-electric second-generation Macan, powered by petrol and hybrid engines. It is going to be launched in 2028.
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While the unique Macan shared its MLB platform with the first-generation Q5 but got here standard with a heavily reworked, rear-biassed version of its ‘quattro’ all-wheel drive system, Autocar reports the substitute for the ICE Macan will employ the brand new Q5’s front-biassed ‘quattro ultra’ AWD system to scale back development costs.
Marking a big change in engineering philosophy for the hallowed German performance automotive brand – and a departure from the Porsche Traction Management (PTM) branded AWD systems utilized by countless models including the 911 sports automotive and the battery-electric Macan – the brand new SUV shall be the primary production since Porsche began making cars in 1931 to consistently send more drive to the front axle than the rear.
In a reversal of the previous Macan, the front wheels shall be the default driving wheels and the rear wheels will only provide drive when the AWD system detects a lack of traction.
Rear-wheel drive has long been the favoured layout for sports cars just like the 911, with high-performance versions and Porsche SUVs offering all-wheel drive systems like PTM, which is tuned to mix the traction advantages of AWD with the handling and power delivery of a rear-drive vehicle.
Satirically, Porsche’s own archives trace the roots of PTM back to the yr 1900, when company founder Ferdinand Porsche fitted electric hub motors to the front wheels of a race automotive.
“Our business model, which has served us well for a lot of many years, now not works in its current form,” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume reportedly told employees in July, laying the bottom for cost-cutting across the corporate.
The price reduction drive comes as Porsche looks to get better lost sales after it dropped the previous ICE-powered Macan in key markets, including Europe and Australia. Production of the present ICE Macan will end completely in 2026, leaving Porsche with only the electrical Macan in showrooms globally, potentially for as much as two years.
While the Macan was Porsche’s top seller in the primary half of 2025, when the corporate said 60 per cent of sales got here from the electrical model, the dearth of an ICE version is ready to affect the brand’s bottom line significantly once supply dries up.
Porsche was one among several automakers including Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Honda to tug back on its electric vehicle (EV) sales targets within the previous 12-18 months.
The German brand had planned for 80 per cent of its global sales to be EVs by 2030, but in 2024 it said that goal “may take longer than we thought” to realize.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
