Porsche Cayenne Diesel Coming To America In 2012

by Derek Kreindler

Published: January 4th, 2012

porsche cayenne diesel coming to america in 2012

Forget Amerindian prognostications of the apocalypse occurring in 2012 – the sight of an oil-burning Porsche SUV is enough for some to consider it the end of the world.

The announcement of a diesel powered Porsche Cayenne was buried deep within a press release for the Porsche 911 Cabriolet’s debut at the 2012 North American International Auto Show. According to the release, the spring launch of the previously revealed Panamera GTS “…will subsequently be followed by the Cayenne Diesel as Porsche’s first compression-ignition car in the USA.”

A bit of digging on the Porsche UK site shows that the Cayenne Diesel puts up some decent numbers. 245 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque with the sprint to 60 mph coming up in 7.6 seconds. A V6 powered Cayenne with the Tiptronic gearbox is only .2 seconds quicker. The Diesel has the clear edge in fuel economy – returning 8.4L/100km in the city and 6.5L/100km – according to our conversions thats 27 mpg around town and 36 mpg on the freeway. The Cayenne V6 returns a meager 16/23 mpg by comparison.

Pricing and positioning for the Cayenne Diesel hasn’t been announced, but we can look to both the existing Cayenne lineup as well as its competitors for clues. The current Cayenne lineup has the Cayenne V6 at $48,200, while the V8-powered Cayenne S retails for $65,000. The Hybrid model (with a supercharged V6 and hybrid drivetrain is $69,000. The diesel will have to bridge the substantial gulf between the two cars, and given Porsche’s propensity to charge exorbitant sums for trivial widgets like colored wheel crests, look for the Cayenne Diesel to err towards the higher side of the pricing spread.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz offer their own range of diesel engines on certain SUVs (the X5, M-Class and GL-Class. The R-Class is questionable as an SUV), but their pricing strategy differs as widely as their respective marketing narratives. BMW positions the X5 diesel as a much more expensive option – costing some $9200 more than a base X5 35i with the 3.0L twin-turbo I6, while the Mercedes ML350 BlueTEC carries a premium of $1590. The GL350 BlueTEC on the other hand costs $1000 less than the base gasoline GL450.

#BMW #Crossover #DetroitAutoShow #GermanCars #Mercedes-Benz #NorthAmericanInternationalAutoShow #Porsche #PorscheCayenne #PorscheCayenneDiesel #SUV

Derek Kreindler

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Millmech on Jan 04, 2012

Is this another Euro-diesel that needs the uric acid/pee tank filled @ great expense?

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- LeMansteve on Jan 04, 2012
  
  ...and the heinously-expensive particulate filter replaced every 50k miles?
  
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- Indi500fan on Jan 04, 2012
  
  Dunno, but the "cow piss" as it's known in the industry is sold at WalMart (in the motor oil aisle) and is just a bit more than windshield wiper fluid.
  
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- Indi500fan on Jan 04, 2012
  
  @LeMansteve I realize it may not be significant to X5 and Porsche folks, but I think the cost of maintaining these 2010 and up diesels as they age out is going to be monstrous. They are complex and loaded with proprietary hardware.
  
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- Wallstreet on Jan 04, 2012
  
  Correct. Thanks to EPA. Auto manufacturers whom agree to install DPF & urea tank are the reasons American gets to own 335d, x35d & BlueTEC.
  
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EquipmentJunkie on Jan 05, 2012

To quote an article by Jens Meiners in Automotive News in March of '04: "We don't tend to follow the competition," said Wolfgang Dürheimer, Porsche's executive vice president for research and development. Of the 40,000 Cayennes that Porsche is selling annually, over half go to North America, where there is no demand for diesel SUVs. "We don't want to develop an engine for just 5,000 units," Dürheimer said. "An SUV by Porsche must be agile and sporty, but you need an engine willing to rev, which a diesel isn't." I guess that things change over the years.

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