UPDATE: PRESS RELEASE AND VIDEO! A photo and more details on the upcoming Porsche Panamera has been leaked online, showing the new four-door "coupe" in all its glory. Porsche has long keeped our attention on their new car called the Panamera but without actually showing the car. The new Porsche Panamera will compete with models like Aston Martin Rapide, Maserati Quatroporte or Lamborghini Estoque.

Porsche aims to sell approximately 20,000 units of the Panamera each year, with the automaker estimating that 20% will be the range-topping Turbo model. The Panamera will only be available in S and Turbo guises at launch, with the V6 model following shortly thereafter. Once established, Porsche hopes demand will increase to 50,000 units annually, with sales beginning in the U.S., Europe and Asia next year.

The Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo is 16.3 feet long, 6.3 feet wide and 4.66 feet tall, with a wheelbase of 9.6 feet. Weight hasn't been revealed but its about of two tons. The most striking detail on the profile shot is the indentations leading from the front fenders, aft of the wheels, into the doors, but the jury is still out on the Panamera's bulbous back end. The aerodynamic shape and low profile gives the 4 door sedan a drag coefficient of 0.29, while an electronically actuated rear spoiler will keep things planted at speed. The Porsche Panamera is praised for its interior space and large, flexible luggage. The designers goal who worked at the Panamera was the term 'Space Coupe " and that says a lot. Porsche said that the car accomodates four occupants that can stay like a monarch in it. In the interior of the Porsche Panamera are four separate, fully electrically adjustable seats.

Porsche also see BMW 7 Series, Bentley Continental, Audi A8 and Mercedes S-Class drivers namely as potential buyers for the new Panamera. Therefore, the hatchback with 450 liters of luggage space also features folding rear seats for extra space, up to about 1500 liter. For additional stability at high speed, a height and in width (only Panamera Turbo) automatically rear spoiler is also avvaible.

All the technology is brand new, just as the platform for excluding the Panamera is developed. An electronic air suspension is part of the Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo package, along with an LSD, and power can be sent to either the rear wheels, or all four, depending on the trim level.The range of engines, avvaible for Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo will be the 6-liter V6 putting out 300 hp, and continuing upwards with the 400 hp, 4.8-liter V8 Panamera S and the Panamera Turbo, packing a twin-turbocharged version of the same bent eight putting out an estimated 500 hp. The engines will be combined with Porsche's new PDK dual-clutch trasnmission and although a diesel model has been ruled out, a V6-hybrid variant with 350 hp will come along at a later date. See the press release after the pictures!

Video: Porsche Panamera

Pictures: Porsche Panamera GT

PRESS RELEASE

Market Launch in Summer 2009

Porsche Presents First Photos of Four-Door Panamera Gran Turismo

Stuttgart. Roughly nine months before the actual market launch, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has released the first official photos of the Panamera in its final look. In its design, profile and silhouette, Porsche's unique four-seater stands out clearly as a new member of the Porsche family. Conceived and designed as a four-door grand touring sports car, the Panamera combines numerous talents in typical Porsche style: sporting driving dynamics, a generous and variable interior, and the supreme driving comfort of a Gran Turismo. Joining the 911, Boxster and Cayman sports cars as well as the sporty SUV Cayenne, the Panamera is Porsche's fourth model series.

The designers of the Panamera have succeeded in positioning this unique car as a brand-new and truly different model while nevertheless retaining the looks of a typical Porsche. Through its proportions alone, the Panamera stands out clearly in its market segment: measuring 1931 millimetres or 76.0 inches in width, the Panamera is wider, and measuring 1418 millimetres or 55.8 inches in height, lower than comparable four-door models. The unmistakable, sleek GT silhouette is created by the car's overall length of 4970 millimetres or 195.7 inches and short, sporting overhangs front and rear. In its styling and details, the Panamera follows the design philosophy refined over decades on the 911 and successfully implemented also on the Boxster, Cayman and Cayenne.

Through its design language alone, the Panamera will establish a new segment versus the competition. The symbiosis of sports car DNA derived from the looks of a coupé, the unique interpretation of the classical saloon body and the benefits of a variable space concept give the new Porsche its truly unmistakable appearance. As an example, the Panamera comes with highly individual, strongly contoured air intakes instead of a conventional radiator grille. Striking wheel arches and the long and sleek engine compartment lid create that typical 911 "landscape" at the front end of the car the Porsche customer has appreciated for no less than 45 years, with the distinctly contoured wings as flanks bordering on the flat front lid. The V-shaped seams along the engine compartment lid and the rear window tapering out like an arrow to the rear convey the features characteristic of a sports car to the new, highly individual Panamera class. The striking, muscular shoulders over the rear wheels, the dynamic sweep of the coupé-like roofline, and the visible tailpipes again bear out all the DNA so typical of a thoroughbred Porsche.

The elegant roof arch extends stylishly over the generous interior, simply begging the beholder to get inside. Like all Porsche models, the Panamera is oriented in every respect to the needs and wishes of the driver. But now, thanks to the new concept of space and the sporting architecture of the interior, the car's occupants are also able to experience this special "pilot feeling" on all four seats. All four occupants enjoy supreme ergonomic comfort on both the front seats and the two firmly contoured single seats at the rear. The luggage compartment easily takes up all the passengers' luggage. The variable space concept with its folding rear seat backrests enables the driver and passengers to adjust the luggage space individually to their personal requirements. And last but not least, the coupé tailgate in the sporting rear end combines superior suitability for daily use with stylish elegance.

Porsche has developed superior and up-to-date power units for the Panamera again reflecting all the qualities typical of the brand – the V-engines within the engine compartment come with six and eight cylinders and range in power from 300 to 500 bhp. Some of the engines use turbocharger technology, Direct Fuel Injection making them both fuel-efficient and powerful all in one. The flow of power to the wheels goes either through a manual six-speed gearbox or the new seven-speed Double-Clutch Gearbox, the so called Porsche-Doppelkupplung (PDK).
In addition to sporting rear-wheel drive, the top version of the Panamera comes with even more sophisticated all-wheel drive, which is also available for the other versions as an option. As a further highlight, Porsche is preparing a particularly fuel-efficient version of the Panamera with hybrid drive. Further details on the engines, transmissions, performance, prices and equipment will be disclosed next spring.

The Porsche Panamera will be built at Porsche's Leipzig Plant, where a production hall measuring some 22,000 square metres or almost 237,000 square feet and a logistics centre are currently under construction. While the engines featured in the Panamera are built at Porsche's Main Plant in Zuffenhausen, the painted bodyshells will be supplied by the Volkswagen Plant in Hanover. The Leipzig Plant will then assemble the Panamera for final delivery, with an annual sales target of some 20,000 units. Porsche is once again cooperating largely with German suppliers in the production of the Panamera, with some 70 per cent of the car's overall value being created domestically. Hence, the Panamera is most definitely a car "Made in Germany".

The Panamera will be making its world debut in spring 2009 and the first models will be at dealers worldwide in late summer of next year.