Porsche has just launched a range-topping Cayenne Turbo S but its sister brands in the VW Group, Lamborghini and Bentley, may be delaying their own SUV projects because of darkening economic clouds.
The Cayenne Turbo S gets titanium-aluminium turbine wheels in the turbos to spool power up to a massive 542bhp, backed up by a more than ample 750Nm of torque. That means this 2-tonne 4x4 can sprint from 0-100kmh in a BMW M3-threatening time of just 4.5-seconds and run on to a top speed of 283kmh. Quite why you'd need a 4x4 with those kinds of figures, we can't quite imagine, but it's probably good fun.
Astonishingly though, Porsche claims that the extra power and performance over the standard Turbo model have not come at the expense of, well, expense. The Turbo S records the same 11.5-litres per 100km (about 26mpg) on the European combine cycle.
But while it's raa-raa all round for Porsche's hot 4x4, its VW Group sister companies, Lamborghini and Bentley, may be rolling back on their plans to launch (admittedly somewhat controversial) SUVs.
We've seen both the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley EXP 9F at various motor shows over the past year, and both their paths to production seemed pretty clear. After all, what the world's monied car buyers seem to want more than anything else are cars with premium badges, four wheel drive and chunky tyres. Porsche itself sells way, waaaaay more Cayennes than it does 911s and Boxsters, so both cars seemed to make perfect financial sense for Bentley and Lambo.
Today though, the word is that both projects are on hold. According to Automotive News, VW is starting to get a bit more careful about how it spends its money. The European car sales crisis that is so damaging the likes of PSA Peuegot Citroen and Fiat hasn't really started to affect the VW Group yet, but it seems that the bean-counters in Wolfsburg are starting to prepare for the worst, even if it never comes.
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