Believe it or not, the Porsche Macan has been on sale for over four years now. It’s safe to say the Cayenne’s smaller sibling has been a monumental success story for the automaker: the Macan is Porsche’s best-selling model by a huge margin, with over 97,000 units delivered worldwide and nearly 21,500 sold in the US last year, which was nearly double the sales of Cayenne, in what was a record year for the manufacturer. But maintaining that sales momentum poses a challenge for Porsche, because the Macan is starting to show its age.
Porsche isn’t planning to unleash an all-new Macan until 2021, which means the current generation model will be based on the outdated last-generation Audi Q5 platform until then. To keep it looking fresh, the Macan will soon be getting a makeover as part of the SUV’s mid-cycle refresh. Our spies recently caught a prototype of the updated Macan being tested wearing very little camouflage. The design changes are quite subtle, with updated LED headlights and taillights and restyled front and rear bumpers. A layer of tape has also been applied to the tailgate, which is most likely hiding a full-width light strip connecting the taillights like its larger Cayenne sibling and the latest Panamera.
While we’ve already seen the exterior of the 2019 Macan in previous spy photos and videos, this latest batch gives us a first look at the interior, which has had a significant upgrade. The infotainment system has a noticeably wider screen than the outgoing Macan, with repositioned air vents to make room for it. The air vents now have a vertical shape compared to the horizontal-shaped vents in the current model. The updated Macan is also expected to arrive with some engine updates. Reports suggest the current car’s turbocharged 3.0-liter and 3.6-liter V6 gasoline engines will be replaced with more powerful 3.0-liter and 2.9-liter units.
The 3.0-liter V6 unit powering the current Macan S produces 335 hp, while the twin-turbo 3.6-liter powering the current Macan Turbo produces 394 hp. A fully electric version is also expected to be introduced for the next-generation Macan. Porsche hasn't hinted when we can expect the 2019 Macan to debut, but there's a good chance we'll see it either at Geneva next month or at the New York Auto Show later the same month.
