In line with its global plans, Porsche has removed the 718 line-up from its India website and stopped accepting new bookings for the Boxster and Cayman, marking the end of the internal combustion-engined 718 Cayman and Boxster in India. The next generation of these models will be electric. The German brand has confirmed that it will deliver cars to customers who have already made bookings.
Porsche’s mid-engined two-seaters took on the 718 name with the mid-life facelift for the current-gen model. When the 718 Boxster was revealed in January 2016, purists turned their noses up at the flat-four engine layout for most of the line-up, which replaced the previously available flat-six unit. However, the range-topping 718 Boxster Spyder and 718 Cayman GT4 did get a 500hp, naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six engine a few years later.
Then, in 2022, Porsche India launched the 718 Cayman GTS and Boxster GTS at Rs 1.46 crore and Rs 1.49 crore, respectively, with the same flat-six engine from the top-spec Spyder and GT4, though detuned to make 400hp. About five months later, the German performance brand also brought the 718 Cayman GT4 RS at a price of Rs 2.54 crore.
While the Macan and Cayenne accounted for nearly 63 percent of Porsche India’s sales in the first half of this year, the 718 models also contributed numbers to the total 489 units sold in that period.
As reported, the fifth-gen Cayman and Boxster will be all-electric only. Slated for a 2025 debut, the EVs will be built on the same production line as the current combustion-engined models at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant. The 718 EVs will adopt a bespoke electric sports car platform that’s designed to mimic the current combustion cars’ mid-engined characteristics and could underpin future Audi and Lamborghini models. Porsche India has confirmed that bookings for the all-electric 718s will open sometime in 2025.