One can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen to the Porsche Panamera by the end of this decade and beyond. The German carmaker will probably keep it around as the Taycan’s more luxurious cousin, as the Panamera will undoubtedly be powered by electricity alone in the long term. It’s either that or going the way of the dinosaurs.
Until that day, we can expect at least one brand new generation car to be unveiled sometime within the next couple of years. The current Panamera, in its second-generation, has been in dealerships since late 2016 and it’s about to turn six years old.
The first-generation Panamera was in production for seven years, which does point to a third-gen car landing in your nearest Porsche dealership sometime next year as a 2024 model.
We also have reasons to believe that Porsche has already begun testing the next-gen Panamera using test mules disguised as updated current-gen prototypes. Such a vehicle was spotted recently by our spy photographers and upon closer inspection, we don’t see any reason why it would have a camouflaged C-pillar if this was just another model year upgrade.
The fuel tank cap is also different – more of an oval shape, compared to the current car’s semi-square shape. Rarely, if ever, does a facelifted car get a redesigned fuel cap. There’s simply no good reason for it.
As for the rear end of that alleged test mule, we suspect it’s housing different taillights too, if not a completely different tailgate design altogether.
It’s hard to say what the actual next-gen Panamera is going to look like once it breaks cover. Of course, that didn’t stop Bernhard Reichel from coming up with a fresh new rendering to get some good word of mouth going.
To be fair, it probably won’t look like this at all (the render sort of looks like a four-door Ferrari fastback), but we'll still give it an A for effort and creativity.
Whatever the case may be, you can bet the Panamera nameplate will continue to carry a lot of weight in the industry, which is why buying a new one will never be cheap.
The first-generation Panamera was in production for seven years, which does point to a third-gen car landing in your nearest Porsche dealership sometime next year as a 2024 model.
We also have reasons to believe that Porsche has already begun testing the next-gen Panamera using test mules disguised as updated current-gen prototypes. Such a vehicle was spotted recently by our spy photographers and upon closer inspection, we don’t see any reason why it would have a camouflaged C-pillar if this was just another model year upgrade.
The fuel tank cap is also different – more of an oval shape, compared to the current car’s semi-square shape. Rarely, if ever, does a facelifted car get a redesigned fuel cap. There’s simply no good reason for it.
As for the rear end of that alleged test mule, we suspect it’s housing different taillights too, if not a completely different tailgate design altogether.
It’s hard to say what the actual next-gen Panamera is going to look like once it breaks cover. Of course, that didn’t stop Bernhard Reichel from coming up with a fresh new rendering to get some good word of mouth going.
To be fair, it probably won’t look like this at all (the render sort of looks like a four-door Ferrari fastback), but we'll still give it an A for effort and creativity.
Whatever the case may be, you can bet the Panamera nameplate will continue to carry a lot of weight in the industry, which is why buying a new one will never be cheap.