Porsche learned from Cayenne cabin woes

PORSCHE has admitted that widespread criticism of its Cayenne SUV’s interior presentation prompted a redoubling of efforts for the Panamera luxury sedan.

Speaking to the Australian media at the Panamera global drive launch in Germany last week, Porsche board member and vice president of sales and marketing, Klaus Berning, acknowledged that the Germans were stung by the poor press and public feedback that the Cayenne dashboard received.

When the luxury SUV – Porsche’s first – was released at the Geneva motor show in 2002, the interior was deemed to be a little too utilitarian by some buyers, prompting a rethink for the Series II facelift and upgrade that followed five years later.

Mr Berning said that this early Cayenne experience provided valuable lessons for Porsche, particularly as the company has not built a four-door sedan in its 61-year history.

“We learnt our lessons from the Cayenne,” he said.

“Maybe the interior of the Cayenne in the first instance was too much SUV than it should have been.

“So we already put in place a direction that (any future car’s interior) would have to be supreme, and we invested a lot of money in that.” Mr Berning also revealed that Porsche immediately ran into problems with the early Panamera development bucks because while the car had to be sleek and low, the company’s 193cm tall CEO Dr Wendelin Wiedeking had to fit inside the back seat comfortably.

“Mr Wiedeking is very tall, and he wanted to fit inside with his fist between his head and the roof. But then the designers wanted a coupe roofline.”

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