Author: Karl E. Ludvigsen

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 728

ISBN-13: 9780837617732

In Book 4 of Porsche: Excellence Was Expected Karl Ludvigsen recounts the dramatic events of 2008-09 that cast a deep shadow over what had been the world's most profitable car maker. Although Porsche became part of the VW Group, as a consequence of their maneuvers the Porsche and Piëch families achieved effective control of that vast corporation. Porsche's reaction to the financial ructions was to launch one great new car after another. Among them was the sensational 918 Spyder, the hypercar whose first appearance at Geneva in 2010 went a long way to show that Porsche was still Porsche.These were also the years of the creation and launch of the mid-engined Cayman coupe, which soon established a reputation as one of the world's best-handling sports cars. In 2016 Boxster and Cayman were joined at the hip under the "718" title, a tribute to the great sports-racers of the 1950s and 1960s that carried that project number.In 2009 Porsche introduced the Panamera, its most controversial offering since the Cayenne. Many of the Panamera's components were shared with the Cayenne, which received a major upgrade in 2017. Since the 2014 model year it had a cheeky little sister, the Leipzig-built Macan. Although derived from the Audi Q5, the Macan was a Porsche through and through. Also a fast seller, the Macan secured Porsche's financial future.Flying the all-important sports-car flag was the evergreen 911 Carrera, first with the 997 and then the 991. The 992 arrived as a 2020 model with all the bells and whistles needed to keep it at the top of its class. Although a hybrid variant of the 992 was not imminent, most of the production Porsches were taking advantage of the exploits of the 919 Hybrid. Starting in 2015, this brilliantly engineered LMP1 racer won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years running, testifying to Porsche's competitiveness. On the horizon was the all-electric Taycan pointing the way to the legendary sports-car maker's future.