Ferry Porsche predicted as early as 1989: "If we built an off-road vehicle according to our quality standards and it said Porsche on the front, it would sell." He was proved right. Since 2002, the Cayenne has been one of the pillars of the car manufacturer's global success.
"The Cayenne was and is a driving force for our brand, which has brought many new customers and fans from all over the world to Porsche over the past 20 years," says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing. In the 1990s, Porsche had to make far-reaching decisions in order to secure the sports car manufacturer's long-term success. At the beginning of the decade, the company found itself in one of the biggest economic crises in its history: it was in the red and only delivered 23,060 cars in the 1991/92 financial year. With the introduction of the Boxster in 1996, Porsche began to maneuver its way out of this slump. However, the management quickly realized that the legendary 911 and the new mid-engine model alone would not be able to lead the company into a secure future. Plans for "the third Porsche" began to mature, even though the segment was not immediately defined.
On the recommendation of the US sales organization, it was decided to design an off-road vehicle instead of the van, which was also being considered. This type of vehicle was particularly popular in North America - Porsche's largest market at the time. In addition, the then CEO Wendelin Wiedeking had his sights set on the up-and-coming Asian market. The ambitions were high right from the start: Porsche not only wanted to develop a particularly sporty SUV typical of the brand, but also to stand up to the best competitors off-road.
Project "Colorado"
This mammoth task was finally tackled together with Volkswagen as part of the internally named "Colorado" project and officially announced in June 1998: Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg were to share the platform. Despite the identical architecture, each manufacturer initially used its own engines and developed its own chassis set-up. Porsche was responsible for the development of the shared platform at the initially top-secret Hemmingen site, while VW contributed its production expertise for large quantities.
In 1999, the decision was made in Zuffenhausen in favor of "Made in Germany" and a new production facility was built in Leipzig, which was officially opened in August 2002. The VW counterpart, the Touareg, was produced at the VW plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. The painted bodywork for the Cayenne was also supplied from there, with final assembly taking place in Saxony. Both the first and second model generations of the Cayenne - internally referred to as E1 and E2 - rolled off the production line in Leipzig and later also in Osnabrück. With the launch of the third generation (E3) in 2017, Porsche relocated the entire Cayenne production to Bratislava in order to create additional capacity in Leipzig for the Panamera sports saloon and the Macan compact SUV.
Its wide technical range makes the Cayenne a family-friendly touring vehicle that is both a robust off-roader and a highly dynamic sports car with typical Porsche performance. With these characteristics, the Cayenne has shaped the sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment over the past 20 years. The first generation (E1) started off as confidently as you would expect from a Porsche: with a choice of two V8-cylinder engines. In the Cayenne S, the newly developed 4.5-liter engine produced 250 kW (340 hp), while the Cayenne Turbo even produced 331 kW (450 hp) from the same displacement.
The all-rounder: sports car and off-roader with long-distance comfort
Top speeds of 242 and 266 km/h were possible - an important message to regular sports car customers, whose expectations were also met with regard to the chassis. The lateral dynamics were determined by newly introduced electronic systems: Porsche Traction Management (PTM) distributed the drive power between the rear and front axles in a 62:38 ratio as standard. In addition, the drive system was variable via a multi-plate clutch and could represent any power ratio between the front and rear wheels between 100:0 and 0:100 if required.
Off the beaten track, the Cayenne driver could also rely on a reduction gear. A 100 percent longitudinal lock prevented the wheels from spinning even if they briefly lifted off the ground. Equipped in this way, Porsche's first off-road vehicle was in no way inferior to renowned off-roaders from the competition even during test drives in the development phase.
The first-generation Cayenne (E1) was also the first Porsche with the newly developed PASM. Porsche Active Suspension Management was offered together with the air suspension. It permanently regulates the damping force and takes the condition of the road surface and the driving style of the Cayenne driver into account in its calculations. The air suspension also helped the Cayenne off-road: The already impressive ground clearance of 21.7 centimeters with conventional suspension was increased to 27.3 centimeters with the help of the level control within the air suspension. Porsche optimized the on-road performance at the beginning of 2006 with the introduction of the first Cayenne Turbo S, which attracted attention with its extraordinary engine power from the 4.5-litre V8 biturbo engine.
Continuous evolution
To optimize weight and performance, the second generation (E2) saw the replacement of the transfer case with off-road reduction by the hang-on all-wheel drive system with an actively controlled multi-plate clutch, which is still in use today. In addition, Porsche introduced the hybrid and plug-in hybrid drive in the completely redesigned E2; these variants had a Torsen center differential. All existing engines gained even more power, with up to 23 percent lower fuel consumption. The eye-catcher in the redesigned interior was the now rising center console.
"With the E3, the task was then to further increase the spread," recalls Hans-Jürgen Wöhler, Head of the Porsche SUV model series from 2013 to 2020, of the development of the third Cayenne generation. "It was about even more sportiness and greater driving comfort while maintaining off-road capabilities. "A three-chamber air spring and the rear axle steering were specially developed for this purpose. The new aluminum body shell saved weight, making the vehicle even more efficient and agile.
The E3 should also offer a wide range of new assistance systems to support the driver," says Hans-Jürgen Wöhler. To this end, a central control unit now integrates all driver assistance systems. The large SUV has also received an update in terms of connectivity: smartphone integration, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. With the introduction of the third Cayenne in 2017, Porsche also said goodbye to the diesel engine and instead focused on the further development of plug-in hybrid technology. Another important milestone was the introduction of the even more sportily positioned Cayenne Coupé - with a sharply sloping roofline like the 911 - in spring 2019.
New markets, new customers: The Cayenne as a door opener
The Cayenne became a global success shortly after its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show in September 2002 - and immediately exceeded sales expectations. The original forecast was 25,000 deliveries per year. In the eight model years of the first generation, 276,652 units were sold, i.e. just under 35,000 vehicles per year. In the meantime, the millionth Cayenne is already history - it rolled off the production line in summer 2020. In 2021, well over 80,000 units were last delivered.
For Porsche, the Cayenne has created the economic basis for sustainable success without compromising the sporting values of the sports car brand. "With the Cayenne, we have succeeded for the first time in transferring the Porsche legend to a completely new market segment," said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, at the world premiere of the third generation in 2017 on the roof of the Porsche Museum. "Our sports car in the SUV segment has proven to be a bestseller and growth engine since 2002. What's more, the Cayenne has opened the doors to many new markets for Porsche and contributed significantly to the internationalization of our sales network."
Youngtimer Cayenne
Early Porsche Cayennes will soon be appearing at classic car meetings, as they are now 20 years old. That's how quickly time flies ...
