Rare Yellow, Low Miles, Manual Transmission! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2017 Porsche Macan receives delayed CARB certification

Customers waiting for delivery of their 2017 Porsche Macans will soon receive their vehicles after several weeks of delays. The California Air Resources Board certified the performance crossover for sale Monday. Several outlets reported the certification had been held up in the aftermath of parent company Volkswagen's diesel woes, as regulators are now making much more thorough inspections of the vehicles. Without certification, Porsche could not deliver those vehicles to customers in 13 states that abide by CARB certification, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, several of the largest markets for luxury automobiles in America. Not only did dealers need to stop sale of Macans they had on their lots, but an unknown number could not be released from port. Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) imports its vehicles through ports in Jacksonville, FL, Davisville, RI, Houston, TX, and San Diego, CA. A spokesman for Porsche told Autoblog the issue has been resolved, and that the Macans received certification Monday. "Shipping has already been initialized," spokesperson David Burkhalter wrote. Pressed for details on the circumstances behind the delay, he said the process was simply "now the normal business procedure for certification." The Macan is a pivotal model for Porsche, particularly in the US market, which accounts for 22 percent of its worldwide sales. Last year, the Macan was the second-best selling Porsche model in America. Its 13,533 units sold trailed only the 16,473 Cayennes purchased by US buyers. Diesel models of the Cayenne manufactured between 2013 and 2016 contained the defeat devices at the center of Volkswagen's emissions cheating, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The company offers the Macan with a range of turbocharged six-cylinder engines ranging in output from 340 to 400 horsepower. While a diesel version is not offered in the United States, Porsche has now started importing a less powerful, but more accessible (and slightly more fuel-efficient) version with a 2.0-liter turbo four. Related Video:

Infiniti cribs new US boss from Porsche

Just weeks before he was supposed to become CEO of Porsche Cars Australia, Infiniti has apparently offered Porsche COO and Executive Vice President Michael Bartsch a deal he couldn't refuse. Thus, Bartsch has join the company as Vice President of Infiniti Americas, the luxury marque's top North American post. Bartsch replaces Ben Poore, who has been with the automaker since 2008, having led both a 22-percent sales surge in 2012 and the brand's current sales slough, Automotive News reports.
Bartsch, Porsche's No. 2 US executive, has held the COO and Executive Vice President positions at Porsche since 2005 and was scheduled to become CEO of Porsche's Oz division on September 1. Infiniti has experienced a number of recent personnel changes in the past week: it named Vincent Gillet, formerly an executive for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, to lead its marketing efforts worldwide and Simon Cox, a former designer for automakers including Ford and Peugeot, to head a new design studio in London.
Poore reportedly will pursue other interests outside of the auto industry. Read more about the personnel change in the press release below.

Porsche unlocks secrets of its mid-engine 911

Porsche is beginning to realize that it's sitting on a goldmine of automotive history with its secret vault full of rare cars. Autoblog toured it a few months ago, and we were amazed at all of the curiosities hidden inside. Now, it's starting to let more folks in thanks to a new series of YouTube videos. The first covered the 965 prototype that shoved a water-cooled, Audi V8 into one of its cars. Next up, a mid-engine 911 that acted as the powertrain test mule for the Boxster.
The Porsche 911 is inextricably linked to its rear-engine layout. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. However, at the time Porsche was developing the Boxster, the company didn't want to lay all of its cards out of the table during testing. As opposed to using camouflage, it put a whole different car on top. The prototype looked just like any other 911 Targa of the day, but the biggest giveaway that something was amiss was the heavily tinted rear window. By obscuring it, inquisitive journalists couldn't peak at the new engine that replaced the backseat.
It might not look like anything too important on the outside, but this is a major piece of Porsche Boxster history underneath. Scroll down to watch the video about this fascinating prototype.