Porsche Macan with 2.0 litre Turbo becomes Porsche’s best-selling US car

The Porsche Macan with the 2.0 litre Turbo four-cylinder engine was launched in the US this summer, and has become Porsche’s best-selling US car.

Traditionally, the US market has believed “there is no replacement for displacement”, and small-engined cars were considered market suicide. But things have changed.

Just as they did in the UK and Europe, Porsche decided to upset the Porsche anoraks in the US by putting the Macan on sale with a 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine. And it’s proved to be a bit of a a master stroke.

Porsche were hoping the Macan with the 2.0 litre turbo could account for as much as 20 per cent of US sales, but the reality is it’s accounting for twice that.

Of course, the 2.0 litre Turbo under the bonnet of the Macan is a pretty decent lump, effectively sourced from the Golf GTI and producing 237bhp and 258lb/ft of torque, it means the Macan will hustle to 62mph in 6.9 seconds and return official economy of 37.6mpg, which helps its appeal.

But what having an even cheaper entry-level Macan also does for Porsche is bring new, and younger, buyers in to the Porsche camp, with some 80 per cent of Macan buyers now new to the brand.

And let’s face it, the more Macans, Cayennes and Panameras Porsche sell, the more certain the future of Porsche’s sports cars become.

Which is a very good thing.