The Porsche Macan Could Stay Gas-Powered a Little Longer

• A dealer says Porsche is reconsidering its approach to go electric-only with the Macan.
• An electric Macan is expected next year, and the gas-powered version was due to be phased out in 2025 or 2026.
• But the current Macan is selling well and appealing to younger buyers, so Porsche may keep it around for a while longer.

The dealer interviewed in the AN story says that Porsche is also apprehensive about public charging infrastructure. There’s a lot of movement in the sector, with a handful of other automakers jumping from CCS as the preferred high-speed charging plug to Tesla’s NACS port. For now, Porsche seems to be a holdout when it comes to adopting NACS, though company leads are said to "[realize] there are not enough chargers out there," says the dealer. Porsche’s customers apparently weren’t thrilled either. The dealer says Porsche also got customer pushback in regard to the electric Macan.

Per AN, Porsche also has internal goals tied up in the Macan right now. The brand wants to become more diverse and lower the average age of its buyers from over 50 to 25-35. Of course, selling luxury products tends to alienate younger, more cash-strapped buyers, but Porsche apparently believes it can overcome this obstacle.

To wit, Porsche says it's approaching "alternative retail formats" for a less stressful shopping experience. This could be a boon for the young wealthy buyers Porsche will soon be courting since taking the pressure off the transaction itself means these shoppers may not be deprioritized, as they might be in a more traditional setting.

This all ties into the Macan because it sells. It sells to everyone, including that wealthy, younger, more diverse crowd. In short, why muck it up by putting the Macan on a new electric platform that can’t accommodate an ICE variant? Macan R&D costs have likely been paid off by now, which means the Macan is as close to straight profit as you’ll find in the auto industry. Changing that is just bad business.

Edmunds says

The more we think about it, the more Porsche's "wait-and-see" strategy for the Macan makes sense. Don't mess with success. Plus, if the brand is looking to bring in younger buyers, adding a new electrified model and the need to offset costs could drive prices out of reach. We're not sure how Porsche will halve the age of its average buyer, but it'll be interesting to see the automaker try.