2010 Porsche Panamera 4S front

The 2012 Porsche 928 will be a 2-door version of the 4-door 2010 Porsche Panamera, shown here. See pictures of the 2010 Porsche Panamera.

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2012 Porsche 928

Is Porsche about to do a coupe spinoff of its first-ever sedan? The odds seem to favor a "2-door Panamera," but not until the economy picks up.

What We Know About the 2012 Porsche 928

Britain's Autocar magazine reports that Porsche is eyeing a high-performance four-seat luxury coupe based on its first-ever sedan, the 2010 Panamera. Though not yet named, the new front-engine 2-door would be a spiritual successor to the torpedo-shaped V8-powered 928 of 1977-95.

Timing and project status are unclear at present, but Autocar quotes company insiders as saying a "new 928" would not be introduced until the global recession eases and more people start buying new cars. Like other high-end brands, Porsche has seen sharp sales declines from the global economic downturn, so it's understandably loath to add another model until conditions improve. Though nobody knows precisely when that might happen, we'd guess the new 928 would not appear before model-year 2012. It would be the company's fifth "model line" after the Panamera, the Cayenne SUVs, the mid-engine Boxster convertible and Cayman coupe sports cars, and the various rear-engine 911 sports cars.

Autocar cites two motivations for a 2012 Porsche 928. First, despite sharing major powertrain components with Cayennes, the Panamera is essentially a unique, all-new design. As such, it represents a hefty expense for this profitable but low-volume automaker. Yet with global production set at a modest 20,000 units a year, the Panamera could take a fairly long time to pay back its investment even after the economy improves. A coupe derivative would speed the rate of return. It would also make better use of the Porsche factory in Dresden, Germany that assembles the Panamera and Cayennes.

Second, Porsche is said to be red-faced for failing to field a stylish "executive express" to rival the likes of the Aston Martin DB9, Bentley Continental GT, BMW 6-Series and Maserati GranTurismo. As a belated entry in this high-dollar niche, a new 928 thus becomes a matter of corporate pride, not just profits. Of course, any profits to be made will depend on how well Porsche can hold down development and manufacturing costs without compromising the coupe's sales appeal.

With all this, it's no surprise that Autocar thinks the 2012 Porsche 928 will be essentially a 2-door Panamera with perhaps 5 inches sliced from the midsection and a corresponding trim in overall length. It looks pretty good in the magazine's computer graphic, which also assumes suitably reshaped rear haunches and aft roofline. Those alterations, plus different doors, could be the only exterior changes the budget would allow, owing to the construction of the Panamera unibody that mixes aluminum, magnesium and high-strength steels of varying thicknesses. Though costly, this materials cocktail allows the sedan to be fairly svelte for its overall size to the benefit of performance, fuel economy and handling, so the 928 would be too. Overall height shouldn't change much for the coupe. Ditto the Panamera's considerable width, aggressive front-end styling, and rear hatch door, the last a novelty in the high-dollar league.

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