The global arrival in California of the Macan SUV ”sportscar” was pure Los Angeles, but it does help when you have the undeniably attractive tennis superstar Maria Sharapova to serve the marketing aces. And they don’t come any more fashionable or glamorous than the Porsche brand ambassador and long-time friend of Dubai, who helped launch the Macan at a sensational exclusive premier last month at the LA Auto Show, the world’s coolest car gala.
The Russian millionaire (she’s the world’s highest-paid female athlete) has incredible demands on her time, but she cleared the decks and made time to have a chat with The National. So, can she see herself scooting in a Macan from Dubai Tennis Stadium to the Burj Al Arab for dinner?
“Absolutely. Definitely. I love Dubai too, I really do. I wish I could spend more time there, but there is only the one tournament a year. But every time I go there I’m astonished by the development. It’s always changing, it’s an amazing place.”
The 26-year-old Sharapova is already a 911 owner, so she didn’t need any converting to the Porsche stable when she signed on as the carmaker’s first brand ambassador, but confesses “I might have a new favourite” with the Macan.
“They’ve brought so many of the best elements of the 911 to the Macan. I travel all over the world all the time and I have so much luggage. I use Cayennes but there are times when I need something a bit more compact,” says the woman who has won all four Grand Slam tournaments, the first being as a 17-year-old when she beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon.
“My team is really looking forward to us having the Macan. Parking can be difficult and I need room for all the luggage and things.”
And trophies? “Yes!”
The president of Porsche’s executive board, Matthias Müller and eight other high-ranking German and US executives were also on hand to lend the Macan’s first big night out plenty of corporate clout.
“We are ready to send 55,000 Macans around the world,” says Muller.
But will the Porsche faithful embrace a mini-SUV?
“Definitely. We went through this before with the Cayenne and the Panamera. My measurement is not astonishing sales, it is that it shares the garage space with the 911. We don’t put the Ferdinand Porsche badge on anything unless it is a great Porsche.”
While the name comes from an Indonesian word, spelled the same, for “tiger”, the automaker says the correct pronunciation is ma-CAN, rather than the Indonesian ma-SHAN. That’ll help you if anyone pulls you up about it in Jakarta.
The Macan is derived from the Audi Q5, Audi also being a Volkswagen brand. The Macan is about 150mm shorter than its sibling, the Cayenne, but features the same muscular look. There’s the Macan S, with a new, 3.0-litre V6 engine that gets 340hp and the Turbo, with a new 3.6L, 400hp V6.
Standard features include an off-road mode, which adjusts the torque, shifter and other functions at the touch of a button. There’s air suspension chassis, which can set the vehicle’s ground clearance at three different levels. Porsche says the feature is unique to the Macan among small SUVs and it promises the Turbo will set new standards for SUVs in driving dynamics and enjoyment on both paved streets and “uneven terrain”.
The whole point, though, is to give Porsche a lower-price model for buyers who otherwise might not have the readies to get into the brand. We’ll be able to judge for ourselves when the Macan hits UAE showrooms in the second quarter of 2014. Nobody thought the Cayenne was a good idea when it emerged from nowhere in 2002, but it soon went on to become Porsche’s best-selling model. Chances are that the smaller, funkier Macan will manage to do even better than that.
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