First-Gen Porsche Cayenne Was Almost Based on the Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Porsche was seeking a partner when it made its first SUV, and it almost found one in the Mercedes-Benz M-Class.
It’s pretty well known in the automotive world that the Porsche Cayenne quite literally saved that brand from extinction, helping boost sales to a reasonable level when the world wasn’t buying sports cars in large quantities anymore. Porsche’s decision to build an SUV was obviously highly controversial at that time, and you could hear the cries of enthusiasts from across the globe when it actually became a reality. Now, the world has accepted performance SUVs, but two decades after its launch, Porsche has revealed something truly interesting about the Cayenne – that it was almost based on the Mercedes-Benz M-Class.
It wouldn’t have been the first time that Porsche and Mercedes collaborated on a product, of course, but it’s fascinating nonetheless. Apparently, Porsche was considering five different vehicle concepts as it aimed to add a third model to its lineup to complement the Boxster and 911. That list was eventually narrowed down to two – a luxury minivan and a performance SUV. Porsche brass in the U.S. quickly vetoed the minivan, a segment that had begun to lose favor in America by the 1990s.
“At the time in America, minivans were especially popular among families with many children and low incomes,” said Anton Hunger, head of communications for former Porsche Chairman of the Executive Board Wendelin Wiedeking. “But large SUVs were doing well across all income levels even back then.” Porsche was looking for a partner to develop a completely new SUV, and and initially found one in Mercedes-Benz, which was set to launch the M-Class in 1997.
“At that stage, we envisioned the Porsche SUV as a high-performance offshoot of the Mercedes,” said Klaus-Gerhard Wolpert, the first Vice President for the Product Line Cayenne from 1998 to 2010, “with its own exterior design, a lot of M-Class technology, but engines and chassis components from us.”
Regardless, the agreement between the two automakers to utilize the Mercedes-Benz M-Class as a basis for the Cayenne fell apart by the end of 1996 due to differing ideas about the two companies’ economic relationship. Porsche moved on to Volkswagen, an automaker that it would eventually become a part of, and the two co-developed the VW Touareg and Cayenne. The rest, as they say, is history, but it’s fun to imagine what could have been, if Porsche and Mercedes had managed to work through their complications on this particular project.
Photos: Porsche
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