PUREBRED N BUTTER

'But is it a real Porsc..' Oh, shut up!

- Paranjay Dutt

Making sports cars, lightweight ones at that, is what Porsche is known for. Okay, it's dabbed its hand at a variety of things including all-electric cars (way before the Taycan), and tractors, and even extending its engineering prowess to help fellow brands in achieving the dream of great affordable sports cars, highly powerful saloons, and even a remarkably sporting estate, among other things. But when one thinks of a Porsche, it's most likely the 911 Stuttgart's long-standing model line that comes to mind. While that's unlikely to change (thank heavens!), that Porsche could sustain itself and continue producing exceptional cars like the 911 in a rapidly changing environment is down to a brilliant (although not unopposed) decision taken in the 90s. And that was the introduction of the Cayenne, a Porsche SUV. What on Earth...

To put all of this into perspective, before the arrival of the Cayenne, Porsche, according to its press data, was managing to shift just over 20,000 cars in a year globally. In the year 2022, which is two decades after the Cayenne's introduction, that number grew more than tenfold. Out of that, the Cayenne contributed more than 95,000 units last year. For a car which is far from entry-level, that is impressive. But like its relevance in Porsche's lineup was questioned 20+ years ago, one can and in all likeliness, will still wonder if the Cayenne is a real Porsche. And while there's no definitive answer to that, the TL; DR version of my usual rant would be this: if you list out the traditional qualities of an ideal Porsche, the Cayenne may just not cut it. But the same will be the case with say the Macan, Panamera, and even the Taycan to some extent. Alternatively, and to actually understand the Cayenne better, if you were to look for Porsche-ness in an SUV, there's quite possibly nothing better than a Cayenne on the market. And given how things stand, there will never be!