Porsche said to rethink plan to ditch Macan ICE sales in U.S. by mid-decade

Porsche is rethinking a plan to ditch combustion engine Macan sales in its second-largest market.

The sports carmaker will bring an all-electric version of the compact crossover in the first half of next year.

Porsche intended to sunset the combustion engine Macan in the U.S. in 2025 or 2026. But now the company will take a wait-and-see approach to go EV-only with its best-selling model, Porsche told its U.S. retailers at a two-day meeting in the Canary Islands this week.

"They are going to review it," a retailer at the meeting told Automotive News. "They will see how sales go in the next two years."

Last year, the Macan accounted for a third of Porsche's U.S. sales.

The dealer said the apprehension about going all-electric with the volume model concerns the lack of well-maintained public charging infrastructure.

"They got customer pushback," he said. "They realized there are not enough chargers out there" to support the Macan customer base.

At the meeting, attended by Porsche Cars North America CEO Kjell Gruner, executives demurred on plans to follow the auto industry in plugging into Tesla's Supercharger network.

"[Executives] indicated they are trying to get as many chargers as possible," the source said. "They know it's a problem, and they're trying to figure out how to do this most efficiently."

Retailers saw the electric Macan and the freshened Taycan fastback arriving next year at the event. Also displayed was the recently revealed Mission X hypercar concept, which will likely evolve into an all-electric 918 successor.

A Porsche spokesman declined to comment on the internal meeting.

In addition to driving the brand's top line, the Macan is critical to achieving Porsche's mission to diversify its customer base.

"One of the things they are not happy with is the average age of a Porsche driver is over 50," the dealer said. "They want it to be anywhere from 25 to 35."

The source said that Porsche aims to steer "driven" youth and "successful" women to the brand, hoping they will upgrade to a 911 or Cayenne as their careers and families grow.

At the meeting, Porsche held workshops to help retailers market to these groups via intimate in-store events.

Porsche is rolling out alternative retail formats and recasting stores as casual hangout spaces for customers and fans.

Meanwhile, retail sales teams are urged to take a "softer," less-transactional approach.

Historically, a 24-year-old who walked into the showroom might have been dismissed as not a serious buyer, the dealer said.

Porsche is "trying to get that mentality to change," he said. Expanding the customer base is essential to driving volume for the niche brand.

Porsche told dealers it expects U.S. sales to hit 80,000 next year, up nearly 15 percent from 2022.