1984 Porsche 928 S Coupe 2-door 4.7l on 2040-cars

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Porsche to expand range, Ferrari fighter a possibility

Porsche has something new on the way; not just the Cayman GT4 or 911 GT3 RS from the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, but a completely different, seventh model line. Unfortunately, the company is keeping mum about what exactly it has on the way. Porsche chairman Matthias Muller (pictured above) snuck the announcement into his speech during the brand's recent press conference. "For example, in the not too distant future we will present a seventh model series. But I am not yet able to tell you exactly when this will happen. There are already promising plans, but no board decision yet." Separately, Muller also indicated that the brand didn't want to set targets too far beyond 2018, which hints when this new vehicle might be unveiled. To lend one more possible clue, the boss said, "the high-speed high-tech laboratory of the 919 Hybrid will benefit all our future vehicles." With the absence of any more facts, speculation is filling the vacuum. Bloomberg posits that this could be Porsche's rumored competitors against Ferrari or Tesla. An electric model is rumored for 2019 with up to 600 horsepower and 300-mile range. "Tesla has built an exceptional car," Muller said, according to Bloomberg. "They have a very pragmatic approach and set the standard, where we have to follow up now." The model could also be the once-confirmed and reportedly-canceled Ferrari challenger to slot between the top 560-hp 911 Turbo S and sold-out, 887-hp 918 Spyder. There is a hole in the lineup in that niche with the latest Ferrari 488 GTB making 661 hp. Of course, there's also the already-spied Pajun four-door as yet another possibility. It's also rumored to hit the market in 2019. Although, some speculation postulates that that this smaller vehicle and the Tesla competitor are actually the same thing. Show full PR text Matthias Muller ? Annual Press Conference 2015 ? March 13, 2015 Ladies and gentlemen, After looking at business year 2014 in detail, I would now like to put my focus on 2015 and the medium-term future. The new business year started extremely well for Porsche. We were able to follow up on the success of the previous year with good delivery figures. By the end of February, we had already delivered 31,000 new vehicles to our customers worldwide. This is approximately a third more than the first two months of 2014. These figures are particularly pleasing because the global environment has not improved and is anything but easy.

Porsche 918 Spyder roars electric through London

The Porsche 918 Spyder can be an object of lust for anyone who appreciates the finer things in the automotive world, but for us greenies with penchant for speed, the car is an icon. This gorgeous, all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid offers 887 horsepower and 940 pound-feet of torque, can do 0-60 in just 2.5 seconds and is capable of 214 miles per hour. It lapped the Nurburgring in a record 6:57. Still, it is capable of near-silent, relaxed cruising through one of Europe's busiest cities. In a new video from Porsche, chief driving instructor Gordon Robertson takes the 918 to London and does just that. While driving in E-Power mode, he describes some of the things that make the car special, as well as how the technology has developed through the 911 GT3 R Hybrid and the 919 LMP1 car to eventually be passed onto the Panamera S E-Hybrid. If you're interested, you can learn more about the car in our own drive review, here. It's great to see, for the first time, the 918 Spyder driving alongside London's black cabs and double-decker buses. The rubbernecking from pedestrians is noticeable and completely understandable. I'm sure we'd all love to see this car come silently sneaking down our own city streets, but until Porsche makes that happen, you'll just have to enjoy the video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Porsche tops J.D. Power quality index as Korean brands soar

While complaints about infotainment systems remain a thorn in the side of automakers for J.D. Power's annual Initial Quality Study, there's a lot to celebrate this year. The average number of problems reported per 100 vehicles fell to 112 in 2015 – a three-percent improvement compared to 116 in 2014. The results of this year's survey are based on the responses of over 84,000 people about problems within the first 90 days of buying or leasing a 2015 model-year vehicle. For the third consecutive year, Porsche tops the rankings with an average of 80 problems per 100 vehicles. Although, that's slightly more than the 74 the German sportscar maker scored in 2014. "While the Japanese automakers continue to make improvements, we're seeing other brands, most notably Korean makes, really accelerating the rate of improvement," Renee Stephens, vice president of US automotive quality at J.D. Power, said in the study's release. In fact, Kia ranks as one of the biggest movers in this year's list. The Korean brand jumped to second place from seventh last year. The company had an average of 86 problems per 100 vehicles, a 20-point improvement. Third place went to Jaguar with an average of 93 problems reported, versus last year's second-place finish with 87 of them. Fourth place was Hyundai, and fifth-place Infiniti also earned a gold star for improvement with 97 issues per 100 vehicles – 31-points better than last year. Fiat still anchored the bottom of the list. However, its 161 problems this year is a lot better than the 206 in 2014. Ranked by nationality, Korean brands (Hyundai and Kia) are now leading the industry in initial quality with an average of 90 problems reported per 100 vehicles. According to J.D. Power, this is the first time Europe's figure beat Japan with 113 and 114 issues, respectively. The American brands also averaged 114. Whereas General Motors dominated last year, the segment awards are spread out in 2015. GM, Hyundai, Nissan, and Volkswagen Group are all tied with four models each earning prizes. For more information, you can also see all of the graphs, here. J.D.