So Porsche’s->ke1 plan to develop an entry-level sports car->ke506 to be called the 718 is dead. Porsche head of R&D Dr. Wolfgang Hatz made that clear to Autocar. But just because the project itself has gone to the scrap heap, that doesn’t mean the “718” nomenclature went with it. A new report from Automobile Magazine is now suggesting that instead of building a completely new entry level-model and call it the 718, Porsche is now planning on using the name on the next-generation Boxster->ke570 and Cayman->ke5 models.

Noted auto journalist and Automobile Mag's European bureau chief Georg Kacher disclosed these new developments, saying that the 718 will be used similar to how Porsche uses the 911->ke282 to represent a slew of models that fall under its name. The same thing will be applied in this case for the Boxster and Cayman, giving way to a family of new Porsche Boxster and Cayman models under the 718 name.

According to Kacher, Porsche will still use its new four-cylinder engine for this lineup, specifically in low-range models that are being tapped to make up the entry-level versions of the 718. Likewise, a number of four-cylinders with different displacements will be used on other versions of the 718, including the possibility of a turbocharged 718 that will sit as the range-topper of the entire line.

With the arrival of the four-cylinder engine, it's likely that Porsche will have no place for the six-cylinder engines that the Boxster and Cayman currently use.

So basically, the 718 is still alive, albeit packaged in a different way than Porsche originally intended. The first derivative of this new line could arrive in 2016.

Click past the jump to read more about the next-generation Porsche Boxster/Cayman.

Why it matters

In a roundabout kind of way, it does feel like Porsche ended up where it intended to go in the first place. We can argue the semantics of how it did so, but the point is that instead of building a new line of entry-level models under the 718 name, it will instead reinvent the Boxster and Cayman models by offering a range of versions similar to the 911 and slap the “718” badge on them.

Voila! A new entry-level lineup that traces its roots to the Boxster and Cayman, thus appeasing the company's desire to keep the two models as its entry points in the market. Basically, Porsche keeps what Hatz describes as its “exclusivity” and still comes out of it by accomplishing its plan to use the 718 badge.

You know the phrase “addition by subtraction?” This feels like a perfect example of that.

Porsche Boxster

Porsche Cayman