A new law will come into force in the EU on 7 July 2024 that is intended to regulate cyber security in cars already on the market in order to make hacker attacks on vehicles more difficult. And if manufacturers or suppliers cannot prove that they already had a certified management system in place when the vehicles were being developed, there are really only two options.
Either the affected vehicle is brought up to the latest cyber security standard, or the model must be withdrawn from the programme. Furthermore, as the investment costs here can be extremely high, VW is not only taking the up! and the Transporter T6.1 out of the programme for good, but Porsche has also been forced to cut back and is removing the 718 Boxster, the 718 Cayman and the combustion-powered Macan from its programme, according to Tagesschau.
But not just on the cut-off date, but with immediate effect. On the Porsche website, you can still find the two 718 models in the configurator, but only with the note "Sold out" and because the manufacturer still wants to give its customers and interested parties the "opportunity to continue viewing the model in the Car Configurator". It would probably take too long to build, deliver and register a freely configured vehicle now. However, the stock of new vehicles can still be enquired about at dealers and, according to Tagesschau, the models will also continue to be produced for export markets
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And what about successors? The switch to electric drive could perhaps happen faster than some Porsche fans would like. As early as 2017, Porsche teased a purely electric Cayman study, which was to serve as a springboard for the development of an electric car. And since 2021, there have also been increasing indications of a corresponding Boxster model, according to dealer statements published by Automotive News. Recently, there have also been repeated sightings of silent Porsche sports cars that are clearly smaller than a current 911.
If we now add up all the evidence and include the new electric Macan in the equation, which was electrified almost exactly ten years after its launch as the original model, then we could expect the Boxster and Cayman to make their debut as EV models as early as 2025. The sporty siblings would then come onto the market as 2026 models. In other words, exactly ten years after the introduction of the Type 982.
Sources: Automotive News, Tagesschau