Porsche Originally Was To Build The Cayenne On A Mercedes Platform

Now in its third generation, the Porsche Cayenne is undoubtedly one of the most important models of the brand in its modern history. Originally launched 20 years ago, the luxury SUV had the mission to save the Stuttgart-based company from bankruptcy – and thankfully, it achieved its goal – after a difficult first half of the 1990s. But before the Cayenne hit the market, the automaker had five different vehicle concepts on the table for what is now known as the “third Porsche.” In the end, only a luxury minivan and a premium SUV were seriously considered.

The second idea had more advocates and Porsche decided to launch a fast, performance-oriented SUV. The marque was looking for a partner to develop this new model and initially, it contacted Mercedes-Benz, which was due to launch the first ML in 1997. “At that stage, we envisioned the Porsche SUV as a high-performance offshoot of the Mercedes,” Klaus-Gerhard Wolpert, VP for the Cayenne from 1998 to 2010, explains “with its own exterior design, a lot of M-Class technology, but engines and chassis components from us.”