It’s been more than a decade since the idea and rumors of a two-door Porsche Panamera – one that would serve as a spiritual successor to the Porsche 928 – was in the works. Yet, here we are in the incredibly dark year that is 2020, and Porsche has yet to morph the Panamera into a proper two-door. The same can be said for a carbio model which has also been said to be in the works for quite a while now. I’m not here to tell you that it’s happening yet, but I can make one hell of a business case for why such a model will work, and Porsche hasn’t abandoned the idea yet.
A Modern Porsche 928? The Competition Is There
First off, Porsche hasn’t confirmed that the new facelifted Panamera or even a next-gen model will be offered as a two-door model, but it hasn’t said that it hasn’t said it won’t happen either. In fact, during a recent virtual conference with Australian journalists, Panamera Product Line Chief, Thomas Friemuth, confirmed that the idea hasn’t been abandoned.
Yeah, the 911 is a nice two-door sports car, and so is the Porsche 718, but you know what? Neither of those can compete with what Mercedes and BMW is doing right now. The two-door Panamera (and the Cabrio version of it) would be quite a bit larger than the 911 and a whole lot larger than the 718. You know what that means? Porsche would have a proper 2+2 grand tourer to compete with the BMW 8 Series and the upcoming, next-generation Mercedes SL. That’s a very strong business case if you ask me, as Porsche doesn’t have a way to compete with either model right now.
However, it’s important to note that Porsche hasn’t been given the green light just yet, so if a 928 successor in the form of a two-door Panamera is going to happen, it’s going to be at least a couple of years out. a couple of years out. }} With the current Panamera just being facelifted for the 2021 model year, that model has at least 3 years left to go. The only thing that might make it happen sooner is if Porsche builds the two-door model now with next-gen tech and hardware, then transitions the four-door model later one when the current-gen Panamera is at the end of its life. This would allow Porsche to introduce a new, standalone model based loosely on the next-gen Panamera without having to wait until 2024 or 2025.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but I’m willing to bet that Porsche is going to do it. A 928 successor would be a welcome addition to the lineup and the competition is there – now it’s just up to the company to get the penny pinchers at the dirty VAG to give the ho-ahead.