In today's we-saw-that-coming files, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume has given the go-ahead for his company to begin building a four-door coupe variant of the Cayenne luxury SUV.
The news comes via the UK's Autocar, which says the couped Cayenne is set to go on sale in Britain in the fourth quarter of 2019 as a 2020 model, suggesting a production launch in late summer.
While the Autocar article makes no mention of the car's availability outside of the UK, we would be *very* surprised if Porsche did not bring the Cayenne Coupe to crossover-crazy North America, where the current Cayenne is a cash cow for the company.
Autocar's source (as always, "someone close to the manufacturer") says the Cayenne coupe will share most of its front-end look with the standard model but will get a more rakish back half.
It was nearly two years ago that we got our first taste of what a Cayenne coupe could look like thanks to a Dutch artist, and we think that rendering is more accurate than Autocar's relatively conservative take.
The idea here is to give Porsche a competitor to vehicles like the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. Our next thought is that if a Cayenne coupe proves a strong seller, can a similarly conceived variant of the compact Macan be far behind to allow Porsche to line up against the BMW X4 and Benz GLC Coupe?
Watch for the Cayenne coupe to come in S and Turbo variants to start, powered by the same 2.9L, 434-hp twin-turbo V6 and the 4.0L, 541-hp turbo V8 that power those respective trims in the standard Cayenne range.
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