The next generation of the Porsche Macan will be electric

AFTER LAUNCHING the new Cayenne and Macan at the Sandals/ ATL Group Aerodrome, Tinson Pen, last month, the brand still has more news to reveal. Porsche brings electric mobility to its site in the German region of Saxony: The Supervisory Board of Porsche AG has decided to manufacture the next generation of the Macan as a fully electric series.

This will be the first all-electric compact SUV from Porsche and is due to roll out the assembly line at the start of the next decade. The development represents an expansion of the Porsche range in the field of electromobility: the Taycan will be launched to market at the end of 2019, followed shortly thereafter by its derivative, the Taycan Cross Turismo. “Electromobility and Porsche go together perfectly, not just because they share a high-efficiency approach, but especially because of their sporty character,” comments Oliver Blume, chairman of the Board of Management of Porsche AG.

“By 2022, we will be investing around US$7 billion in electric mobility, and by 2025, fifty per cent of all new Porsche vehicles could have an electric drive system. Nevertheless, over the next 10 years, we will focus on a drive mix consisting of even further optimised petrol engines, plug-in hybrid models, and purely electrically operated sports cars. Our aim is to take a pioneering role in technology, and for this reason, we will continue to consistently align the company with the mobility of the future.”

The decision to manufacture the next generation of the Macan at the company’s Leipzig site was taken as early as the beginning of July last year. Making this investment in electromobility at the Leipzig site creates the opportunity to produce fully electric vehicles on the existing production line in the future.

The next generation of the Macan fires the starting pistol for electrification. Like the Taycan, this compact SUV features 800-volt technology and is based on the Porsche PPE architecture (Premium Platform Electric) developed in collaboration with Audi AG – highlighting the future viability of the site and enhancing its flexibility and efficiency even further.

Porsche Leipzig GmbH started series production of the Cayenne SUV in 2002 with 259 employees. Since then, the site has been continually developed to become one of the most advanced and sustainable production facilities in the automotive industry.

The Macan model signified a revolution right back in 2011 and is a real success story. When it was launched, the Leipzig plant was expanded into a ‘full plant’, which included its own body shop and paint shop. When the factory started operations in February 2014, forty thousand units per year of the compact SUV were planned. Today, it produces more than 90,000 units annually for global markets.

What is currently the final expansion stage was put into operation two years ago, making it possible for the Panamera series to now also be fully manufactured in Leipzig and bringing employee numbers up to today’s figure of more than 4,000.

Since the groundbreaking ceremony in February 2000, Porsche has invested around $1.5 billion in development in Leipzig.

“By 2022, we will be investing around US$7 billion in electric mobility, and by 2025, fifty per cent of all new Porsche vehicles could have an electric drive system.”