Apparently, ‘Cajun’, was just a working title. Because today, Porsche has confirmed the name of its new baby SUV, and that name is ‘Macan’.
Not to be confused with 46-year-old Croatian-born author and illustrator Darko Macan, Porsche tells us the word translates from Indonesian as ‘tiger’, a rather ferocious and predatory animal Porsche probably wishes to emulate in automotive form. We’re promised “suppleness, power, fascination and dynamics”, which are a given, really.
Porsche will start building the Macan next year at its Leipzig factory; a factory that has just has €500 million invested in it, so this new car is a pretty serious model in the line up. Information is sparse but it’ll be based on the ‘MLB’ platform, loosely based on the Audi Q5, and Porsche is hoping the Macan will double its total sales volume. Double.
But is it just us, or does the name lack… something? If it wanted to name it after a tiger, why not call it the Tiger? Or something childishly giddy like ThrustMaster 3000 EVO 27? Porsche says the name of a new model “has to sound good in very many languages and evoke positive associations”.
Erm, not sure about that. You lot got any better suggestions on the Cayenne’s baby bro’?
