Saar: The Chinese will be the first to get it.
Porsche has confirmed that the mid-life update of the Macan, or what we like to call as the Macan facelift, will see its market launch in China by the end of this month. Apart from that, the German sportscar maker has also released multiple, slightly camouflaged, pictures of the Macan facelift. These were taken in a high-altitude country called Lesotho, which is surrounded by South Africa from all sides. Porsche claims that with the facelift, the Macan will be a more potent all-rounder than before. The team, it further said, has been testing the baby SUV on terrains varying from rough asphalt, dusty gravel roads to challenging mountain passages. In Lesotho, the test engineers took the prototypes up to 3,400 metres above sea level.
How different will it be from its predecessor? In the design department, it will have new headlamp and taillamp enclosures, new sets of bumpers and alloy wheels. The basic silhouette, however, will remain unchanged. Although Porsche hasn’t released any images of the cabin, the Macan facelift is likely to have an upgraded feature list and a tinkered dashboard design for a bigger infotainment system. Fit and finish, as usual, will be top-notch. The biggest change, however, is expected from under the hood. All power plants are likely to have more oomph on offer than before. Reports suggest that the least expensive variant will have over 300PS on tap, while the range-topping Turbo variant will have nearly 440PS.
There won’t be any diesel or any kind of electrified powertrains on offer. While we don’t expect Porsche to invest in refining and injecting diesel-powered engines under the hood of the Macan ever, we do expect it to offer electrified variants when the marque enters in its next generation.
To ensure that the Macan facelift rides better than its predecessor, Porsche has been fiddling with the suspension setup to make it smoother and more comfortable on the go. Weight saving has been on the agenda too as Porsche has used more aluminium in the suspension setup.
The Porsche Macan facelift will have big shoes to fill as its predecessor, which was launched in 2014, racked-up 3.5 lakh sales globally for the German carmaker. The Macan marque has been a huge hit for Porsche. Last year, it outsold the 911 model range by a ratio of 3:1.
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