Oliver Blume is no longer Porsche’s CEO, but he’s leaving behind an unusually candid admission: Porsche shouldn’t have pulled the plug on the original gas-powered Macan. The compact luxury SUV wasn’t just another model in the lineup- it was a sales pillar, and Porsche misjudged how quickly buyers would move on from combustion power.
Blume, who led Porsche for a decade and continues as Volkswagen Group CEO, acknowledged that the decision to phase out the first-generation Macan created problems the company is now scrambling to fix.The assumption was simple at the time. The electric Macan would replace the gas one, and customers would follow. That didn’t happen.
Why The Gas Macan Really Went Away
Technically, the first-generation Macan hasn’t fully disappeared yet, but it’s on borrowed time. In Europe, it was pulled from sale in mid-2024 because it didn’t meet new cybersecurity rules under the General Safety Regulation. Globally, Porsche plans to end production by mid-2026, with no direct gas-powered replacement ready.
Looking back, Blume says Porsche’s strategy made sense with the data it had. The plan was to offer combustion engines, hybrids, and EVs across its lineup, but not necessarily for every single model. The Macan was chosen as the point where Porsche would go all-electric. In hindsight, that choice underestimated how attached buyers still are to internal combustion engines, especially in the compact luxury SUV segment.
The impact was immediate. In Europe, once the gas Macan disappeared, Porsche felt the gap almost overnight.
Porsche’s Course Correction Is Already Underway
Porsche isn’t pretending the problem will solve itself. Instead of reviving the Macan name, the company is now developing a new combustion-powered crossover that will sit below the Cayenne. It’s expected to arrive in 2028 and compete in the same space the Macan once dominated.
Blume described the upcoming model as a “very typical Porsche,” carefully positioned to feel distinct from the electric Macan rather than overlap with it. That distinction matters now more than ever, as Porsche tries to avoid repeating the same internal competition mistake.
Under the skin, the new SUV is expected to share significant hardware with the next-generation Audi Q5. That likely means Porsche will use Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture and Audi’s front-wheel-drive-based Quattro Ultra system. The outgoing Macan used a similar starting point, but Porsche spent heavily to engineer a more rear-biased feel. This time, the company may not have the luxury of that level of rework.
Why Porsche Can’t Overengineer This One
Porsche is juggling multiple expensive pivots at once. A large three-row SUV is now being developed with combustion engines after originally being planned as EV-only. The Boxster and Cayman are also set to retain gas engines, reversing another major electric-only decision.
All of that costs money, time, and engineering bandwidth. Deeply reworking an Audi Q5 into something radically different may simply be off the table. Porsche needs speed and efficiency just as much as it needs driving character.
That reality explains why the company is now being more pragmatic about platforms and powertrains than it was just a few years ago. This also means that the final product may not feel ‘Porsche enough’ for hardcore enthusiasts. Time remains before we find out.
A Rare Moment Of Executive Honesty
Blume’s admission stands out because senior executives rarely acknowledge mistakes this openly. Yet there’s little doubt that Porsche thrived during his tenure. When he took over in 2015, Porsche sold just over 225,000 vehicles globally. By 2023, that number peaked at more than 320,000.
Porsche is big enough, and well-backed enough, to recover from the damage caused. Backed by Volkswagen Group resources, it can now rebalance its lineup and give buyers what they’re clearly still asking for: gas engines, hybrids, and EVs, all co-existing.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
