The Porsche 718's Days are Numbered
We’ve been hearing about the Porsche 718’s demise for a while now, but the day has finally come. The automaker’s head of American product communications, Frank Wiesmann, recently told Motor1 that the Boxster and Cayman have reached the final months of production, with the last units expected to roll off the production line in October.
Porsche saw increasing sales of the cars last year, with a 15-percent gain to 23,670 cars. That said, it discontinued the 718 in Europe, causing a significant drop in early 2025, though it continued selling a handful of low-production special-edition cars in some countries.
The electric 718 is still in development, so Porsche will be without its entry-level sports car for a time. Company leaders have acknowledged that its goal of shifting 80 percent of sales to EVs by 2030 is unreasonable in today’s business climate, but it didn’t change plans to kill off the 718.
Despite that, Porsche is still planning new internal combustion engines, including V8s with reworked emissions systems to comply with the EU’s extremely restrictive regulations. That means the Cayenne and Panamera will continue on with V8 power, but the lack of an entry-level gas sports car could hurt the brand’s bottom line in the short term, as the higher-end 911’s prices put it out of reach for the vast majority of buyers.
[Images: Porsche]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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The two percenters who buy Porsches don't use 2% of their capability. More interesting are (cheaper) alternatives driven at 98% of their potential by the 98% people.
I didn’t get a harumph out of that guy.