Porsche doesn’t usually do public regret. The company that engineered perfection out of rear-engine weirdness and turned SUVs into profit-printing machines tends to move forward, not look back. But Oliver Blume, who stepped down as Porsche CEO on January 1 after a decade at the helm, is doing something rare: admitting the company got it wrong.
The mistake? Letting the first-generation Macan die without a gasoline-powered successor ready to take its place.
Blume, now solely focused on his role as Volkswagen Group CEO, told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that discontinuing the original Macan was a miscalculation. At the time, Porsche believed the electric Macan would seamlessly replace its combustion-engine predecessor. The data said it would work. The strategy looked sound. Reality, as it often does, had other plans.
“Our strategy was to offer combustion engines, hybrids, and electric sports cars in each of our three segments—but not for every product,” Blume said. “We were wrong about the Macan.”
That admission lands with weight, because the Macan isn’t just another Porsche model. Since its launch in 2014, it’s been one of the brand’s best-selling vehicles, a gateway drug to the Porsche ecosystem, and a masterclass in making an Audi-based crossover feel genuinely special. Killing it off without an immediate replacement wasn’t just a product decision—it was a revenue gamble.
Technically, the gasoline Macan isn’t gone yet. But it’s on borrowed time. The first-generation model was pulled from the European market in mid-2024 after failing to comply with the EU’s updated General Safety Regulation (GSR2) cybersecurity requirements. Globally, production is expected to wind down by mid-2026, leaving a conspicuous gap in Porsche showrooms.
The problem is that the electric Macan hasn’t filled that gap—at least not yet. While the EV represents a major technical leap for Porsche, buyers haven’t flocked to it in the numbers the company expected, particularly in markets where charging infrastructure, pricing, or simple buyer preference still favor combustion engines.
Porsche is now backtracking, carefully.
Rather than reviving the Macan name for a gas-powered sequel, the company is developing an all-new internal-combustion crossover positioned below the Cayenne. It’s slated to arrive in 2028 and will compete squarely in the same compact luxury SUV segment the Macan once dominated—just under a different badge.
Before stepping aside, Blume described the upcoming model as a “very, very typical Porsche,” while emphasizing that it would be clearly differentiated from the electric Macan. Translation: same showroom space, different propulsion philosophies.
Details remain thin, but Porsche has already hinted at where the hardware will come from. The new crossover will “benefit from synergies,” corporate shorthand for platform sharing. Expect it to be closely related to the latest Audi Q5, riding on the Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Combustion (PPC).
That’s where things get interesting—and potentially tricky.
The outgoing Macan also shared DNA with the Q5, but Porsche famously went to great lengths to make it feel like a Porsche. The all-wheel-drive system was rear-biased, the steering sharper, the chassis more alive. This time, Porsche faces tighter constraints. Deep reengineering costs money and time, and both are already being consumed elsewhere.
The company is pouring resources into a large three-row SUV—once envisioned as electric-only—that will now launch with combustion engines. At the same time, Porsche has reversed course on the Boxster and Cayman, confirming that the 718 twins will retain gasoline power rather than going fully electric as originally planned.
Against that backdrop, the new ICE crossover can’t become a science project. Reports suggest it may retain Audi’s front-wheel-drive-based Quattro Ultra system, a setup that prioritizes efficiency over the rear-drive feel Porsche buyers expect. If true, Zuffenhausen will need to work hard to ensure the driving experience matches the badge on the hood.
All of this underscores a broader reality: Porsche’s EV transition hasn’t been abandoned, but it has been recalibrated. The company still believes in electrification—but not at the expense of products customers clearly still want.
As for Blume, he isn’t going anywhere. His contract as Volkswagen Group CEO now runs through the end of 2030, giving him oversight of one of the industry’s largest and most complex automotive empires. With Porsche now under separate leadership, the split makes sense. Each brand gets the focus it needs, and Blume gets a clearer view from 30,000 feet.
If nothing else, the Macan episode proves that even Porsche—arguably the best product-planning automaker in the business—can misread the road ahead. The difference is that when Porsche course-corrects, it does so quickly, decisively, and with just enough humility to admit the miss.
Now comes the hard part: making the fix feel like it was the plan all along.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
