It was a wet night for an event but that didn't dampen the anticipation for the guests who turned up for the launch of the all-new second generation of the Porsche Cayenne and also the V6 variants of the Panamera. As many will know, the new Porsche distributor in Malaysia is Sime Darby Auto Performance Sdn Bhd (SDAP) and this was its first event.
The new Cayenne is offered in five different variants which include, for the first time in Malaysia, a turbodiesel and more significantly, a hybrid. The prices start at RM550,000 for the Cayenne with a 3.6-litre V6 and an 8-speed Tiptronic transmission, and go up to RM940,000 for the 4.8-litre biturbo Cayenne Turbo which also the 8-speeder and is claimed to have a top speed of 278 km/h with a 0 -- 100 km/h time of 4.7 seconds. The Cayenne Hybrid is priced at RM720,000.
The prices are quoted without insurance and roadtax and for 'information purposes' SDAP included a chart of the roadtax for all its models. For the Boxster which has the smallest engine size of 2893 cc, the annual roadtax is RM1,862.50 and the model with the highest roadtax is the Panamera Turbo which has a 4806 cc engine -- RM10,257 a year. Interestingly, however, the Cayenne Diesel's roadtax for its 2967 cc engine is RM1,587.20 while the Cayenne Hybrid, which has a 2995 cc engine, it's RM1.632.00.
According to Arnt Bayer, the newly-appointed CEO of SDAP, the prices of the latest Porsches have been revised in accordance with the current value of the euro. In other words, there has been some change which benefits customers but along with the more attractive pricing is a 4-year/100,000 km free service and maintenance package that comes with the new cars (except for a couple of models that are expected to be used on the track).
The second generation of the Cayenne has already been launched in other parts of Asia and the order book is bursting, revealed Christer Ekberg, MD of Porsche Asia-Pacific based in Singapore. He said that the entire 2010 production has been sold out already and the new Cayenne has set the best-ever sales record for Porsche. Going by orders since May, when the model was launched in Asia, the Cayenne Diesel is seeing the highest demand, followed by the V6 petrol variant while the Hybrid is third most popular.
Concerning the issue of diesel fuel quality in Malaysia which, in spite of having been 'upgraded' to Euro 2M last year, is still inferior by international standards, SDAP has given assurance that there should be no problems for the Cayenne's diesel engine. It won't meet Euro-5 emission standards, though, as the diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been removed for the units sold in Malaysia. This is necessary since even with Euro-2M standards, the fuel still has a lot of sulphur in it and will clog up the DPF very quickly. Service schedules have also been adjusted to take into account the fuel quality.
As for the Panamera, the two new variants launched tonight had the brand new 3.6-litre V6 engines and are available with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (Panamera 4). The new engine produces maximum power of 220 kW/300 bhp with 400 Nm of torque and though it has impressive performance, the car is also relatively light and this helps in getting fuel consumption down to between 10.4 to 10.7 kms/litre according to factory tests.
The prices for the new variants are RM730,000 for the Panamera and RM760,000 for the Panamera 4 and as with the other models, there is also the 4-year/100,000 km free service and maintenance package.
Touching on SDAP's plans and policies, Mr Bayer said that besides providing warranty support for any Porsche that comes to their service centre, the company is also offering a special package to those who own Porsches that have been imported by other parties. In the past, owners of such cars have not been able to get proper after-sales support. However, according to Mr Bayer, there are quite a lot of Porsches on Malaysian roads and not all of them were officially imported and SDAP wants to offer its services to those owners.
As for the network, the workshop in Glenmarie, Selangor (where Auto Eurokars was) is being refurbished and there will also be an upgrading of showrooms and early next year, a new showroom will be opened in Kuala Lumpur. "We're also looking at closer cooperation with the Porsche Club Malaysia members," he added.
Source: Autocar Asean & Motor Trader
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