Porsche Panamera

The Porsche Panamera (Type number 970) is a four-door, four-seat luxury sedan, which was launched in 2009.[2] It is front-engined with rear-wheel drive, with a four-wheel drive version also available. The Porsche Panamera production model was unveiled at the 13th Auto Shanghai International Automobile Show in Shanghai, China on April 2009.[3]

The Panamera is generally considered to be the long-awaited fruit of Porsche's 989 concept from the late 1980s; some argue that it also presents itself as a successor to the two-door 928, but there may be plans to develop a new 928 as well.[4] The Porsche Panamera and Panamera S are marketed as a direct competitor to full-size luxury sedan such as the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The high performance Panamera Turbo competes in the ultra-luxury segment alongside "exotics" such as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Aston Martin Rapide, and Maserati Quattroporte.[5] Like the Porsche Cayenne SUV (which has become the marque's best-selling vehicle), the Panamera upset many Porsche enthusiasts, since it was seen as an attempt to broaden Porsche's appeal beyond that of hardcore fans. The Panamera ran contrary to the company's signature offerings, particularly its light two-door rear-engine sports cars like the 911. The Panamera on the other hand is considered a full-size luxury car, weighing at nearly 4,000 pounds, with four doors, and its V8 engine mounted in the front. The Panamera's unusual appearance with its long hood and bulbous rear hatch bares little resemblance to a stretched 911, although it does resemble the 911 from certain angles.[6] The iconic 911 has a sparse interior, as it was focused on raw performance, while the Panamera has a sumptuous interior loaded with modern technological amenity and expensive leather upholstery.[7] [8] Despite the differences in dimensions and design, a reviewer noted that the Panamera's driving dynamics were close to that of the 911, and it "seems to occupy the no-man's-land between really good sports sedans and proper sports cars", and so far the Panamera has won every comparison test against other four-door performance cars on the market. Function was also praised, with the 15.7 cubic feet hatchback truck, and the four-corner adaptive air suspension that retained superior handling while also providing a comfortable ride for public roads. Edmunds stated that the Panamera was an innovative engineering feat that "makes a unique statement about the way that luxury transportation and serious high-performance potential can be mixed together in one car". [9] [10] However, the CAR magazine of the U.K. described the S model not as sporty as they expected, which they blamed the car "oriented to comfort as it’s possible"[11] and called the Turbo model "a missed opportunity on behalf of Porsche" to be "the world’s first lightweight four seater" as the top model weighs as much as an Audi S8.[12] Engines are first assembled in Stuttgart, and the car's body is built and painted at the Volkswagen Group facility in Hannover. The final assembly of the vehicle takes place in Leipzig, Germany, alongside the Cayenne.[13] Production began in April 2009, one month after its debut in the Shanghai Motor Show in China. Porsche will keep production rate at around 20,000 cars per year.[14] Porsche has applied for patents on a four-door convertible version of the Panamera that keep the same general dimensions.[15]