2012 Porsche Cayman R
The suggestion was hinted at by Porsche CEO Matthias Muller who spoke recently with What Car? Muller explained that platform sharing would allow Porsche to speed up development while also reducing costs, but he stressed that no compromises would towards Porsche’s models.
“As long as I am CEO of Porsche, a Porsche will always be a Porsche,” he said.
Muller went on to explain that Porsche’s Weissach research and development center was now open to the whole Volkswagen Group and that the company’s modular architectures could help Bentley, which he described as being “too small to create its own solutions.” He stressed that right now it was only an offer.
Other tidbits revealed in the interview were that Porsche has developed a new four-cylinder engine based on the flat-six units found in the Boxster and Cayman and is currently testing it, as well as a plug-in hybrid Panamera prototype that is also in testing.
Interestingly, earlier this year we reported on Bentley eyeing a new four-door coupe model to sit below the Continental GT range. The platform underpinning the Porsche Panamera may be the ideal solution for the new Bentley’s architecture needs but at the same time Audi also has a suitable platform residing under the pretty sheet metal of the new A7.
