Porsche Macan production starts in December

Production of the Porsche Macan – Porsche’s ‘baby’ Cayenne – will start in December 2013 after a debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

It does seem that the baby Cayenne – the new, Audi Q5 based Porsche Macan – has been on its way for a while, but Porsche has now confirmed production will start in December, with first Macans hitting Porsche showrooms in early 2014.

But despite the Macan having been spied many times, seemingly almost undisguised, we really don’t know what it will look like.

That’s because Porsche’s man in charge of the design of the Macan – Michael Mauer – has admitted that Porsche has had to go back to the drawing board with the Macan to try and address its design in light of the huge success of the Range Rover Evoque.

Mauer isn’t saying Porsche are aiming to build an Evoque clone, but Porsche want to make the Macan a bolder statement than a mini Cayenne would offer.

And it’s important that Porsche get the Macan right, as they’re planning to sell 75,000 a year – a big chunk of the 200k target sales Porsche has set themselves for annual sales by 2018 – so design is going to be key, as the Range Rover Evoque has demonstrated.

The general consensus is now that the Porsche Macan will make its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it turned up at Frankfurt in September first.

But whichever motor Show see the debut of the Macan later in the year, expect it to look somewhat bolder than the spy photos and videos so far have demonstrated.

Porsche Macan Spy Video