Porsche is evaluating the addition of a new SUV with petrol and hybrid power – likely to slow below the Macan and Cayenne – for a launch "towards the end of the decade".
Porsche has confirmed it is studying the addition of a new SUV to its line-up with petrol and hybrid power, months after it watered-down plans for 80 per cent of its sales in 2030 to be battery-electric vehicles.
The new Porsche SUV – which will launch "towards the end of the decade" if it is greenlit – will likely be positioned below the mid-size Macan and large Cayenne, potentially as a close relation to the latest Audi Q5.
"The sports car manufacturer [Porsche] is currently evaluating an independent model line in the SUV segment with combustion and hybrid powertrains," the brand said in a media release detailing its 2025 annual conference.
"It would have a new design and Porsche's characteristic profile, and would benefit from synergies. The model could be launched towards the end of the decade."
If it is approved, the new model will not be the only additional SUV to join the Porsche line-up, with its first seven-seat model – codenamed 'K1' and slotting above the Cayenne – due before the end of the decade.
Porsche is currently developing its next-generation Cayenne as an electric-only model, but it has confirmed the current model launched in 2018 – which offers plug-in hybrid power – will continue into the new decade with further updates following its last revision in 2023.
Its best-selling model in Australia, the Macan, moved to an electric-only offering globally with the current, second-generation model launched in 2023.
Previous media reports have suggested an internal-combustion version of the now-electric-only Macan was under consideration, however it now appears likely any future mid-size Porsche SUV with a petrol engine will wear a different badge to the Macan.
The Porsche Macan EV shares its Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture with the Audi Q6 e-tron, while the proposed combustion SUV is likely to use the Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) found in the Audi Q5 – rather than attempting to engineer a petrol engine into the Macan's electric-focused underpinnings.
"You can do with an electric Macan… everything's better than the combustion [predecessor] and we [made the decision].
"This was developed [as an] electric car from scratch, of course. We don't see the necessity for [electric and petrol power].
"I mean, there are more models, for example, like Cayenne… where we said, 'Okay, customers should be able to choose between combustion, hybrid and electric versions."
"But Macan was actually designed as an EV and [we decided] that this, let's say, more compact SUV version… it's the right way to go electric. And that's what we have at the moment. There are no discussions about [an ICE variant]."
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
