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Porsche plans baby Panamera

orsche is planning a smaller version of its Panamera limousine to mark the brand's entry into the mainstream market as part of Porsche's plans to sell 200 000 vehicles by 2018.

The downsized road car will be a four-door fastback hatch like its bigger brother and will compete against premium cars such as against the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes' E-Class.

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Porsche boss Matthias Mueller told Focus news magazine the new car, which has been on the drawing board for several years, would still be priced above the equivalent of about R550 000 on the German market. He described the figure as "the magic limit" below which the luxury maker would not pitch a production car so as not to endanger its upmarket image.

This "new Ferrari-beating Porsche" would slot in above the iconic rear-engined 911. Mueller said production of the car, code-named Porsche 960, was highly likely.

Another project in the pipeline is a Targa convertible - Porsche terminology for a semi-convertible with a removable roof section. Mueller said: "We could see ourselves reviving the Targa 964 just like we did 20 years ago.”

Porsche currently produces the 911, the Cayenne, the Panamera and the Boxster/Cayman. A small SUV, the Macan, is also poised for production.

Porsche is owned by the VW group and posted record production figures for 2012 - more than 128 000 or 8.5% more than in the whole of 2011.    


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