Porsche Cancels the 718 ‘Baby’ Boxster

In case you have not noticed, Porsche has been known to be planning a ‘baby’ Boxster for quite some time. The model would be known as the Porsche 718. Originally, Porsche planned to implant new 4-cylinder engine into the vehicle and that it would cost approximately £35,000. In addition to that, the car would also represent the long racing history behind the company.

Unfortunately, the luxury German automaker has only recently announced that it has completely canceled this plan. Of course, this must have caused a lot of fans upset, especially those who have been eagerly waiting for the baby Boxster to arrive. But then again, what is the reason Porsche is doing this?

Well, as it turns out, according to Wolfgang Hatz, the R&D boss at Porsche, the company is doing great with its already available Boxster models and as such, he sees no reason why the Germany-based car maker should even think about going below that in the first place. Unlike the company’s earlier plan that aims to increase sales volume, Hatz points out that with such an exclusive brand as Porsche, it is not appropriate to aim for sales volume.

Well, speaking of the now-canceled Porsche 718, it was first spotted by the Autocar back in the year 2010. Then, exactly one year later, Matthias Muller, Porsche’s boss, confirmed what Autocar spotted. Back then, Muller mentioned that the vehicle would be just like the 550 Spyder, one of the company’s most historical vehicle models, only in its modern day version.

The canceled vehicle model was also supposed to come with a steel and aluminum mid-mounted engine which was expected to come from another luxury German brand, Audi, that is also under the Volkswagen Group, just like Porsche. The engine would reportedly be featured on the Audi R4 roadster as well. Yet, since the Porsche 718 baby Boxster is no longer a probability, Porsche will be implanting this engine into its new Cayman and Boxster facelift variants instead. These models are likely due next year.

Vector illustration of teamwork concept. Office workers are made up of parts of the whole, working on the project.