“I instructed all my division managers to turn in their Porsche company cars. Instead, we purchased several different SUVs, such as the BMW X5, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Mercedes M-Class. Colleagues were to drive these models daily, and every four weeks, we swapped them around,” said Wolpert. This allowed them to identify good and bad elements. After spending four weeks in these cars, they knew what they wanted to keep for the Cayenne but, more crucially, what to throw in the bin.
The result spoke for itself. On the road, the Cayenne felt oddly similar to a German sports saloon with a well-sorted chassis. Off-road, it was a beast, courtesy of low-range gearing and locking differentials that could compete with a Land Cruiser. Somehow, Porsche managed to make two polar opposite sides of the automotive segment work harmoniously. It was a stunning feat of engineering, though later Cayennes would eventually become more road-biased.
Though Porsche loyalists groaned, the Cayennes sales figures saved the company. Porsche sold 10,000 units more per year than anticipated, and to this day, the Cayenne remains the most popular Porsche.
