Porsche Panamera Launched in India

Porsche India has launched the Panamera for the Indian car market. The Panamera is Porsche’s first four-door sedan which went into production as the earlier prototypes like the 1991 Porsche 989 prototype and the 4-door 911-based prototype never went into production.

The Porsche Panamera is available in three variants, viz. S, 4S and the Turbo. The price range begins at Rs.1,44,36,000 (ex-showroom India except New Delhi, including VAT and import duty).  The Panamera S and 4S are powered by a 395bhp 4.8-litre V8 engine and the Turbo variant has 493bhp 4.8-litre V8 twin turbo engine.

The Panamera, like the Porsche Carrera derives its name from the Carrera Panamericana race. Porsche has plans of developing the hybrid variant of the Panamera which will be powered with a 3.6-litre V6 engine and a 34kW electric motor which powers the Cayenne hybrid, which we hope makes it way to India as well once it is under production.

Precision Cars India have already got 13 confirmed bookings for the Panamera, and they plan to sell a total of 50 units over the next year. The Panamera's start/stop feature gives extra gains in India’s city traffic, with fuel consumption claimed to reduce by 1 litre/100km for the S and 4S variants, and 1.5 litres/100km for the Turbo. They have no plans to bring in base variants for any of their models since it will involve homologation, and the cost of homologation is prohibitive.

Porsche’s Indian arm, Precision Cars, was founded in 2007. They are the official importers for Porsche. The Cayenne is the highest selling model in India, with a majority share in the luxury petrol SUV market. They have sold 168 units across the range in 2008. The recession has pushed Porsche India's plans back by 9-12 months. However, new dealerships will be opened shortly in Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. Potential locations for new dealerships are Ludhiana, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

Pricing of the Panamera