Auto executives are like politicians: For them, knowing how to deny reports is a job requirement.
When American Honda Motor's former Executive Vice President Tom Elliott introduced the company's plans for building the Ridgeline pickup, he said, "For years, we've told you we have no plans for a truck. Today, I'll tell you that we do."
As Elliott's line suggests, the company had been denying reports of a planned pickup for a long time.
Porsche has had a similar experience with public speculation -- but over a sedan, not a pickup. Last July, the German sports-car maker announced that it would build a new sedan and ended, as Honda Motor did, years of denials.
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Porsche dealers would love to have a fourth model line to sell, and they will get one: the four-door Panamera, which will go on sale in 2009. While Porsche's sports cars, the Boxster and 911, have engines mounted behind the passenger compartments, the Panamera will have a front-mounted engine. It also will have rear-wheel drive and a new platform, or basic mechanical architecture.
The Panamera will compete in a new segment pioneered by the Mercedes-Benz CLS -Class from DaimlerChrysler: that of the "four-door coupe." While we think any vehicle with four doors is a sedan, Mercedes is selling the CLS as a coupe, due to its low, sleek body and sporty styling -- and because "it's awfully roomy for a coupe" sounds much better than "it's awfully cramped for a sedan." Porsche is also calling its four-door a "coupe," and Volkswagen and Aston Martin, which is owned by Ford Motor, appear to be planning to enter this new segment as well.
Porsche will build the Panamera at its factory in Leipzig, Germany, where it builds the Cayenne sport utility vehicle and Carrera GT supercar. The company's total investment in the new sedan, including development, will be more than $1.2 billion, and Porsche expects to sell at least 20,000 Panameras per year.
