Cayenne to get Audi V6 diesel

PORSCHE has officially confirmed that it will produce a diesel-engined Cayenne and that it will arrive in Australia earlier than anticipated.

The Stuttgart company’s first-ever diesel-powered vehicle will now go on sale in Australia from April 2009 – not the second half of the year as expected – and will be priced from $101,900.

As predicted by GoAuto almost three months ago, the Cayenne will be powered by the VW Group 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine currently used in the similar Audi Q7 SUV.

However, while the TDI engine produces 171kW of power and 500Nm in the Audi, Porsche has revealed that these outputs will be boosted to 176kW and 550Nm to better suit the performance credentials of the Porsche.

Linked only with the six-speed Tiptronic-S sequential semi-automatic transmission, the Cayenne Diesel should easily outperform the 3.6-litre petrol model, which has 213kW/385Nm and is priced from $94,700, but will fall short of the considerably more expensive 4.8-litre petrol V8 Cayenne S, which is priced at $134,500 and boasts 283kW/500Nm.

Fuel consumption for the Cayenne Diesel will easily eclipse both of the naturally-aspirated petrol models, though, with an official average figure of just 9.3L/100km (compared with 12.9L/100km for the V6 and 14.9L/100km for the V8).

The Porsche Cayenne Diesel will arrive in Australia just two months after going on sale in Europe, which is its primary market.

Porsche Cars Australia, whose managing director Michael Winkler said it would have been “crazy” to imagine a diesel-powered Porsche five years ago, said that the early introduction is a response to strong local enquiry for a diesel engine option from local customers.

Porsche AG explained that the decision to introduce a diesel “was taken in response to changed legal regulations especially in European markets, resulting in tax incentives for vehicles with diesel engines” and that in the long term it will help to maintain the Cayenne’s market success.

A record 45,478 Cayennes were sold globally in the 2007/2008 financial year, including 640 in Australia – about 250 which were the V6 petrol model that was introduced in March 2007.

The company also said that its controlling stake in the Volkswagen Group had opened up opportunities to use VW’s huge range of modern diesel engines.

“With the introduction of the Cayenne Diesel, Porsche is consistently continuing its commitment to reduce fuel consumption,” said the company, which reduced the Cayenne’s consumption by about 15 per cent early last year with the introduction of direct-injection petrol engines.

Porsche also confirmed that a petrol-electric hybrid version of the Cayenne that it is jointly developing with VW – a prototype of which was driven by GoAuto last year – will consume less than 9.0L/100km and will be launched at the end of the decade.

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