Porsche’s Bold Cayenne Redesign Was a Smart Move
When the Porsche Macan went electric, the initial signs were promising. But the novelty of electric propulsion has already worn off for some, and as a result, Porsche is backing away from all-electric plans. That decision is affecting several model lines, including the Cayenne, and new spy shots caught by the Autoblog spies have shown that the current generation of Porsche’s luxury SUV will live on with gas power, gaining styling that brings it more in line with other P-cars.
Some Say The Cayenne Could Be Porsche’s Achilles Heel
According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, the SUV that saved Porsche in the early 2000s could be causing problems in Stuttgart. The outlet says that Porsche is facing struggles in the market and says that some of the reasoning for this could be Porsche’s reliance on parent company Volkswagen and its platforms. In the case of the Cayenne, that platform is shared with the Lamborghini Urus, but also the Volkswagen Touareg, and WSJ posits that this could be giving the brand a bit of an identity crisis. Nonetheless, as Porsche’s best-seller, the Cayenne is still an important part of the portfolio, and this new development mule shows that Porsche isn’t taking its challenges lightly.
Cayenne Copies Carrera For 2026
While other automakers design complex camouflage wraps for their prototypes, each with unique patterns to hide an individual car’s characteristics, Porsche has simply painted all of its development mules black, with prototype parts finished in the same color and sometimes even covered with more black tape. Annoyingly for us, this is just as effective, if not more so, but with these shots taken in such close proximity, we do get some details.
Like the 992.2 911 Carrera, the Cayenne is getting vertical slats in the intake grilles, with the outermost openings likely featuring closing adaptive slats for aero and cooling efficiency. Vertical daytime running lights on either end help frame the new design choice better, and the massaged bumper completes the subtle changes. This is what Porsche does best: radically improving a car with as few clues to its newness as possible. We should see the final product by the end of the year, likely arriving for the 2026 model year, and likely with more price increases. This will keep the Cayenne alive until at least the end of the decade.
