Porsche's new Panamera

As Car Journal reported back in February 2008, the Porsche Panamera is going to be unveiled at the 2009 Geneva motor show.

The Porsche Panamera is the fifth range from Porsche (Porsche Boxter, Porsche Cayman, Porsche 911, Porsche Cayenne) and is developed to be a strong competitor to the Volkswagen four-door coupé, the future Aston Martin Rapide and the Mercedes CLS.

Even thought the Porsche Panamera takes some inspiration from the design elements of the 911 range, there are also significant differences:

While the Porsche 911 has always kept its rear-mounted boxer engine, the Porsche Panamera will be available with a choice of three front-mounted motors although they are set back as far towards the centre of the car as possible.

Powering the entry level Panamera will be Volkswagen’s 3.5 litre 6 cylinder motor developing 300 bhp, while Porsche’s own drive train will be a direct-injection eight-cylinder petrol engine, available in naturally-aspirated guise (350 bhp) and with twin-turbo (560 bhp).

The Porsche Panamera should have enough grunt to be enough to beat the competition for a while as Mercedes’ CLS 63 AMG comes up with "only" 514 bhp! However, should Stuttgart make the CLS even stronger, Zuffenhausen would strike back with the Porsche GT’s 700-bhp ten-cylinder unit!

The aim of the Porsche Panamera is to be a true sports car while at the same time it shall be a family car for every day use with 4 full seats, a luggage compartment of around 450 litres and easy access to the rear. When it hits the road in 2009, Porsche hopes to be able to sell 20,000 units annually – and to jump over the barrier of 100,000 sold cars per year.