We Porsche fans have already been upset by the announced cancellation of the entry-level 718 roadster, which has been made official. Now it seems as though the Porsche Pajun, or “Panamera Junior,” is likely to follow it to an early grave.
A report from Australia’s Motoring.com.au states that Wolfgang Hatz formally pronounced the 718 dead, citing the need for Porsche to remain exclusive. “The project is stopped. We have a very good entry point to the range with the Boxster, and we see no reason to go below that.”
The 718 roadster – which was to be a spiritual successor of sorts to the 550 Spyder – had previously been planned as part of Porsche’s strategy to ramp-up sales to 200,000 units per annum. With the goal so close at hand already, the safe money says that the Porsche Pajun won’t be needed, either.
The new Porsche Macan mid-size SUV has pushed Porsche sales past 170,000 units already this year, representing an increase of 15 percent from the same period in 2013. And, as Motoring.com.au reports, Volkswagen has frozen the development of new models across each of its 12 brands to smooth the gestation of the new MQB platform.
This isn’t to suggest that the Porsche Pajun project is necessarily canceled. But if we ever do end up seeing one, you can be sure that it’ll still be several years out.
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