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After months of showing shrouded photos and disguised prototypes in spy shots, Porsche finally unveiled the Cayenne.  The Cayenne is an SUV, the first non-sports car that Porsche is selling under its own name.  (Porsche has previously assembled sedans like the Mercedes-Benz 500E.) 

The front looks like a 911 on steroids, with similar headlamps and a huge grille.  Behind that grille resides an all-aluminum V8.  In the Cayenne Turbo, the 4.5 liter twin-turbo engine pumps out 450 bhp and 623 Nm of torque from 2250 to 4750 rpm!  Mated to an all-wheel drive system, that’s enough to propel the car from 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds and all the way to a top speed of 265 km/h.  The car measures (LxWxH) 4785 mm x 1927 mm x 1700 mm, with a 2855-mm wheelbase.  Standard wheels are 18-inchers, with options for 19 and 20-inch wheels. 

The Cayenne joins the 911 and Boxster in Porsche ’s lineup in the second half of 2002.  Prices are estimated to start at USD 50,000, to as much as USD70,000 for the top model.  The Cayenne is expected to boost total Porsche output to 75,000 to 80,000 units per year from about 50,000.

The profitable German carmaker said Tuesday first-half net income rose 29 percent to Euros 89.4 million (USD78 million) from Euros 69.1 million a year earlier. Sales rose 6.8 percent to Euros 1.84 billion.

Stuttgart-based Porsche said revenue and pretax profit are expected to at least match last year even if unit sales fall. Vehicle sales edged up 1.2 percent to 23,475 units in the first six months of its fiscal year.

Porsche, which sells more than half its cars in the U.S., said any shortfall in sales there will be made up by strong sales in Europe. On Friday, it said U.S. unit sales fell 15 percent to 1,882 vehicles in February.

Porsche's stock, which has risen about 60 percent in the last 12 months, was little changed at Euros 536 in midday Frankfurt trading Tuesday. The company currently is valued at about Euros 4.7 billion.

Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking told investors in January the U.S. market had not suffered long from the effects of the Sept. 11 attacks and the company is considering listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

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