Almost eight weeks after its debut at the Paris Motor Show, people are still talking about the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo. Porsche has taken the model’s online microsite down, but there’s no doubt Stuttgart has plans for the concept.
Porsche supremo Matthias Muller gave a production version the strongest green light yet when he told one reporter: “The Panamera Sport Turismo sells. The next generation of the Panamera is expected to more sporty and coupe-like, then next place for such a model.”
Autoweek’s coverage of the concept Panamera station wagon revealed some interesting details on the production and likely market positioning of a production Sport Turismo.
“The body concept of the Panamera Sport Turismo is an outlook on a possible Porsche sports car of tomorrow,” said Matthias Muller, without providing any official time line for the introduction of the production version.
Porsche says it investigated spinning a wagon off the current Panamera design, but the high cost of re-engineering the rear body structure, including vital changes to the bulkhead to open up the loading area, proved prohibitive. As such, the new model has been integrated into the development process of the second-generation Panamera.
“In terms of the overall concept, the wagon is not too far removed from the liftback. Both use a large tailgate, with the structure engineered appropriately to suit both,” Porsche revealed. “The decision to push ahead with plans for a Panamera wagon has been driven by customer feedback. We have existing Panamera owners who seek greater practicality but don’t necessarily see the Cayenne as a solution.”
No official measurements are available for Panamera Sport Turismo’s luggage space, but it’s said to offer seven cubic feet more than the Panzer hatch’s 15.7 cubic feet. This puts it close to Audi A6 Avant, at 20 cubic feet, and the Mercedes CLS shooting brake at 20.8 cubic feet.
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