Are We Seeing the Next Porsche Panamera — or Just a Facelift?
Carscoops is reporting that following spy shots that suggested the Porsche Panamera is in line for a facelift, new snaps might indicate that a full redesign is on the way.
The blog says spy photogs have noticed a bunch of small differences that could add up to actually indicate major change. The shooters also note that the camouflage is placed in unusual spots and that the door lines look different.
The car does appear to be on a seven-year platform lifecycle, thus putting it on track for a third-generation to bow next year. On the other hand, the rumor mill has suggested 2025 is the target date.
For what it’s worth, I personally can’t tell if the photos indicate a facelift or a full redesign. Furthermore, we know Porsche is usually evolutionary and not revolutionary, at least in terms of exterior styling. So the car could be significantly changed underneath — meaning it’s redesigned — while still looking familiar.
We shall see. For now, gaze upon the photos here.
[Image: Porsche]
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Is it true that this vehicle can drive underneath a Hummer EV without making contact?
Has Panamera anything to do with Pan American?
Panamera is such an underwhelming offering. Was shocked at how blah it was to drive. M5 CS managed to do everything better for less money. It's very clear all the development time and money was spent on the Taycan instead of the Panamera. Not surprised with the sale result. It also looks awkward still unlike the sleek Taycan
Carscoops doesn't know what they're talking about. 1) The test mule has exactly the same hard points as the current Panamera. Nothing has changed with the body structure, and that's pretty easy to tell. 2) Porsche spent hundreds of millions on this longitude-front-engine-RWD MSB platform (the only such platform from VW Group at this point), which otherwise underpins the relatively low-volume Bentley Continental GT/GTC and Flying Spur. It wouldn't make sense to redesign one of its products so soon, especially when it hasn't aged a bit and still looks very current.