A Little More Info on the Porsche Panamera

Luxury-vehicle makers are casting aside decades of tradition in pursuit of more space in the garages of car buyers. The latest evidence: Porsche AG, long known for making luxurious and impractical two-door sports cars, said yesterday that it plans to build its first production four-door coupe.

The Stuttgart, Germany, auto maker yesterday ended months of speculation by saying it plans to add the new model, the Panamera -- named after a Mexican long-distance car race -- to its lineup. The move illustrates how the drive to maintain growth in luxury-automobile sales, combined with an expanding field of rivals, is changing the definition of what constitutes a high-end car. Not too long ago, it meant either plush sedans or turbocharged sports cars like the venerable Porsche 911. Now, however, upscale car makers are branching out.

In a few months,DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz plans to roll out its new R-Class, a cross between a minivan, sport-utility vehicle and station wagon on steroids. BMW AG is developing its own minivan-like vehicle, which it says will have the towering seating of an SUV, but a car-like silhouette.

Jaguar Motor Cars, a maker of low-slung sedans and two-seaters, recently added a station wagon to its lineup, and now the unit of Ford Motor Co. is considering a further break -- a crossover vehicle that would combine the style of a large station wagon with the versatility of an off-roader. Jaguar has traditionally left off-road vehicles to its sister brand, Land Rover.

The shift by Europe's luxury automotive brands toward new designs partly reflects changing customer tastes, as buyers increasingly demand the spaciousness of minivans and SUVs, but in a sleeker form. Although sedans still account for around half of the global premium-car market, their share is expected to fall to around 45% over the next five years. That might sound small, but for brands like Mercedes and BMW -- where two models can account for more than half the company's profits -- it's a significant shift.

For its part, Porsche is hoping the new model can help it to cash in on rising demand for high-performance sports cars that sell for €60,000 to €200,000 (roughly $70,000 to $240,000). Sales in this segment have roughly doubled over the past five years, to around 100,000 cars a year from 50,000 in 2000, according to Global Insight Automotive, a Boston-based sales-forecasting firm.

With an expected entry price of about €80,000, the car is expected to compete with the Mercedes CLS and BMW 6-Series (both are also four-door coupes) and, on the more expensive end, with the Maserati Quattroporte as well as the Bentley Continental GT.

Porsche hasn't given out pricing details for the new vehicle. The Mercedes CLS has a starting price in the U.S. of $66,975. Mercedes has sold about 30,000 CLSs since it went on sale in October; Porsche says it hopes to sell around 20,000 Panameras a year.

The decision to build the Panamera is likely to kick off a new round of debate over Porsche's identity, following the addition of the Cayenne SUV more than two years ago. Stoked by spy photos of the new model, Porsche partisans have argued for months on Internet sites about whether the Panamera represents a smart step toward reducing the company's reliance on its flagship 911 sports car -- a vehicle that accounts for nearly half Porsche's operating profit -- or whether the Panamera will dilute the brand's high-performance image.

"We have ... taken a lot of time in making this decision," Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking said in a statement yesterday. "In terms of performance, design and driving dynamics, [the new vehicle] meets Porsche's high standards in every respect."

Mercedes and BMW face similar questions in their moves into roomy family cars. The R-Class is about as long as a large SUV, with 75 to 80 cubic feet of cargo room, but rides low to the ground like a large sedan. With its six seats, there's room for a couple of kids in the back, along with two grandparents. The car, which will be built at Mercedes's plant in Alabama, will sell for around $50,000.

BMW has been sensitive about how the shift into new niches will affect the company's image. Eschewing the word "minivan" in describing the new model, BMW instead refers to it as the RFK, which is an abbreviation of a phrase that means "space-functional concept" in German. "We are not making a minivan," says BMW Chief Executive Helmut Panke.

Regardless of the name, both Mercedes and BMW are making van-like vehicles that few could have envisioned in their line up 10 years ago, says Georg Stürzer, an auto-industry analyst with HVB Corporates & Markets Research in Munich. But the movement away from sedans is forcing a "clear change in strategy" for luxury-car makers, particularly BMW, which has long emphasized performance but must now try to deliver it in a more spacious form.

"They see a shift toward cars that are more like SUVs. The market is changing rapidly, so they have to dare to enter new segments," Mr. Stürzer says.