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by Matt Prior 5 April 2012 Follow @matty_prior Share
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It’s taken a little time but for those who said at its introduction in 2002 that the Porsche Cayenne would destroy the brand, the humble pie is all over their face.
You can see why the doubters doubted: after over half a century building nothing other than two door sports cars, Porsche had now lent its name to a two-and-a-bit-tonne SUV developed in conjunction with Volkswagen.
Even those who don’t love the Cayenne should be impressed by its dynamic abilityMatt PriorEditor-at-large
But if life with the Porsche Cayenne was unimaginable then, it is even harder now to conceive of Porsche without it. When soon after its launch it became Porsche’s best-selling car, many believed it would not last: that the undeniable novelty value of the car would soon wear off. But it never did. So strong it remained that the smaller Porsche Macan followed in 2014.
Today the Cayenne is the most important car in the entire Porsche range, still the best seller and the model Porsche could least do without. Now we see the Cayenne at the centre of the Porsche hub with the once one and only Porsche 911 relegated with the Porsche Boxster, Porsche Cayman and Porsche Panamera to the role of mere spokes.
For the first month of 2017, the Porsche Macan trumped the Cayenne on the sales front in the US, with 600 more smaller Porsche SUVs shifted than the bigger Cayenne. However, even so 1350 were sold in January a mere 45 less than in 2016. So not all is lost.
You may be a Porsche purist and as a result loathe the Cayenne with the same strength of feeling as you might love a Porsche 911 GT3 RS; if so it is worth reflecting that without the former, the latter would almost certainly not even exist.
Advertisement Back to top Verdict Model tested: Rating:
Porsche Cayenne 2010-2017
GoodImpressive build qualityExcellent on-road mannersInterior designBadFuel consumptionChallenging appearanceExpensive options