For the first time in its history, Porsche could send more power to the front wheels of a new model when it launches the belated successor for its original internal combustion engined (ICE) Macan.
According to Autocar, the replacement for the combustion-powered Macan, codenamed ‘M1’, will share its Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) underpinnings with the new, third-generation Audi Q5 that’s due to arrive in Australia by the end of 2025.
Both Porsche and Audi are part of the broader Volkswagen Group, and Porsche has confirmed it is developing a newly named mid-size (Macan-size) SUV to be sold alongside the all-electric second-generation Macan, powered by petrol and hybrid engines. It will be launched in 2028.
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While the original Macan shared its MLB platform with the first-generation Q5 but came standard with a heavily reworked, rear-biassed version of its ‘quattro’ all-wheel drive system, Autocar reports the replacement for the ICE Macan will employ the new Q5’s front-biassed ‘quattro ultra’ AWD system to reduce development costs.
Marking a significant change in engineering philosophy for the hallowed German performance car brand – and a departure from the Porsche Traction Management (PTM) branded AWD systems used by countless models including the 911 sports car and the battery-electric Macan – the new SUV will be the first production since Porsche began making cars in 1931 to consistently send more drive to the front axle than the rear.
In a reversal of the previous Macan, the front wheels will be the default driving wheels and the rear wheels will only provide drive when the AWD system detects a loss of traction.
Rear-wheel drive has long been the favoured layout for sports cars like the 911, with high-performance versions and Porsche SUVs offering all-wheel drive systems like PTM, which is tuned to combine the traction benefits of AWD with the handling and power delivery of a rear-drive vehicle.
Ironically, Porsche’s own archives trace the roots of PTM back to the year 1900, when company founder Ferdinand Porsche fitted electric hub motors to the front wheels of a race car.
“Our business model, which has served us well for many decades, no longer works in its current form,” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume reportedly told employees in July, laying the ground for cost-cutting across the company.
The cost reduction drive comes as Porsche looks to recover lost sales after it dropped the previous ICE-powered Macan in key markets, including Europe and Australia. Production of the current ICE Macan will end completely in 2026, leaving Porsche with only the electric Macan in showrooms globally, potentially for up to two years.
While the Macan was Porsche’s top seller in the first half of 2025, when the company said 60 per cent of sales came from the electric model, the lack of an ICE version is set to impact the brand’s bottom line significantly once supply dries up.
Porsche was one of several automakers including Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Honda to pull back on its electric vehicle (EV) sales targets in the previous 12-18 months.
The German brand had planned for 80 per cent of its global sales to be EVs by 2030, but in 2024 it said that goal “may take longer than we thought” to achieve.
In the meantime, it has added more hybrids to its range, including the first hybrid version of its iconic 911.
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