Despite currently being currently very similar in size, Porsche foresees a future in which both the Taycan and a fully electric Panamera will co-exist peacefully in its showrooms.
Kevin Giek, head of the Taycan product line, told Autocar the company has a “high interest to keep [the Taycan] as a long-lasting car line, like the 911“.
Given Europe will ban the sale of new cars with petrol and diesel engines by 2035, the Panamera will one day become an all electric model.
Porsche Panamera
At present, one of the key differentiators between the Panamera and Taycan are their drivetrains, with the Panamera having both petrol and plug-in hybrid options, while the Taycan is purely a battery electric vehicle.
The two cars are currently separated by around 100mm in length, 50mm in wheelbase, and 50mm in overall height. However there’s also a long wheelbase Panamera measuring around 5.2m long, a fair stretch compared to the 4.96m Taycan.
There’s also a fair amount of price overlap, with the pre-facelift Taycan priced between $165,000 and $364,000, while the outgoing Panamera has starting prices between $200,000 and $432,000.
Mr Giek believes the two vehicles are “obviously different”, with the Panamera being “more spacey, more luxury” compared to the Taycan which “which is more focused on sportiness, on real sports car behaviour”.
Taycan
Like other Porsche models, the next-generation Taycan will be a gentle evolution — at least stylistically — of today’s car.
While Mr Giek wouldn’t divulge any other details about the next Taycan, but was clear it wouldn’t be based on Platform Premium Electric, which serves the basis of the just-revealed second-generation Macan crossover, and will go on to underpin the new Audi Q6 e-tron, and A6 e-tron.
“PPE is a perfect SUV platform, but Taycan is not an SUV,” Mr Giek said.
The current Taycan was introduced in 2019 and was facelifted just a few weeks ago, so given the typical seven to eight year lifespan of modern Porsches, its successor probably won’t go on sale until 2027.
As for the Panamera, Porsche unveiled a third-generation model at the end of 2023, although some might argue due to the carry over wheelbase and doors, it’s more a heavily facelifted second-generation car. Regardless, we probably won’t see an all-new Panamera before 2029 or 2030.
MORE: Everything Porsche Taycan
MORE: Everything Porsche Panamera
