Axe dropped on new generation Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

Having debuted the all-new third generation Panamera earlier this week, Porsche has officially confirmed that the shooting brake-styled Sport Turismo won’t be renewed due to poor sales.

It never made the cut

Showcased at the Geneva Motor Show in 2017, the Sport Turismo, which Porsche described as a “4+1” seat Panamera, measured five millimetres taller than the sedan and offered improved practically with as much as 1 390-litres of boot space with the rear seats folded down.

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While facelifted with the rest of the Panamera range three years ago, the bodystyle’s absence at the launch of the new iteration in China will remain indefinite as it accounted for less than 10% of global sales since its debut six years ago.

“In China and the US, our main markets in the D segment, the Sport Turismo plays only a minor role. For this reason, we have decided to discontinue this model variant with the launch of the new generation,” Porsche said in a statement seen by Automotive News Europe.

It did, however, indicate that the long wheelbase Panamera Executive will remain in production for markets such as China where legroom plays a significant role in luxury vehicle sales.

This means the Panamera will become a sedan-only model once again, while the estate-styled Shooting Brake role will reside solely with the all-electric Taycan Cross Turismo unveiled in 2021.

Sedan, and sedan only

It’s demise more than likely being also as a result of the Cayenne, the Sport Turismo had been tipped to form part of an extensive Panamera line-up rumoured to consist not only of the sedan, but also a large coupe or even a cabriolet.

“We are just discussing this topic for several years as you can imagine since other competitors also have two-door cars. Be we’re not finally yet ready to decide whether to do this or not,” the Panamera’s product line boss, Thomas Friemuth, was quoted by motoring.com.au as saying after the launch of the updated previous generation when asked about the likelihood of a successor to the 928.

“We have quite a nice two-door car in our programme called the 911. [But] We are always looking at new opportunities to get new markets and more customers.”

New Panamera coming to South Africa

Already confirmed for South Africa from the second quarter of 2024, all three variants of the new Panamera, the rear-wheel-drive ‘base’ model, all-wheel-drive Panamera 4 and flagship Turbo E-Hybrid, will be offered locally priced from R2 216 000 to R4 127 000.

Additional information from autocar.co.uk.

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