Changes are coming for the Porsche Cayenne. The tough Stuttgart SUV will still be easily identifiable, but the current generation is in need of a makeover and these new spy shots give us a first taste of what that will mean. Our spy team got lucky and caught this prototype in broad daylight, although Porsche still uses some trickery to hide details. However, it is not enough to keep us from seeing the big picture.
As is often the case with a vehicle retrofit, the exterior changes to the front and rear are downgraded. Slimmer headlights are coming for the Cayenne, although Porsche is using some clear tape against the black finish to try and hide the smaller lenses. New headlights mean new front fenders and a new hood, the latter of which looks more sculpted with sharper creases in the body lines that run to the rear from the lights. And of course the front grille is larger – that’s certainly the trend among car manufacturers these days, and the design adds some aggression to the Cayenne’s face.
18 photos
From there we draw our attention backwards, where we see very obvious placeholder lights for new tail lights. It’s impossible to work out what the new taillights will look like, but it looks like most of the lights are now on the rear side panels instead of the tailgate. In fact, the tailgate and lower dash are completely different, with the license plate moving low and the gate looking much narrower.
We haven’t heard of interior updates at this early stage, but it’s not unreasonable to expect a slightly larger touchscreen. The center console and shift lever are also likely to be updated to match other models in the line-up. Likewise, there is no information yet on any powertrain changes. The current Cayenne lineup runs from purely fast to insanely fast, and there is no reason to expect that to change.
Finally, we come to a timetable for a disclosure and that’s a bit of a mystery at this point too. As this is our first sighting and the prototype still carries placeholder components, a debut late this year as a 2022 or 2023 model is very likely.