Porsche Macan sales to stop in EU over cybersecurity rules

Typically, stricter emissions rules kill off cars in the European Union. But that's not why the gasoline-powered Macan is about to be axed in the EU. Porsche has to pull the plug on its smallest crossover because it can't meet upcoming cybersecurity regulations.

A Porsche spokesperson has told Automotive News Europe that sales of the Macan in EU countries will end next spring. 

At the time of Porsche's development of the Macan, these regulations had not yet been in place. According to the spokesperson, updating the vehicle to meet the new requirements would be too expensive.

It's a huge punch for Porsche, considering the Macan was by far its best-selling model through October. Nearly 20,000 units were sold in Europe in the first 10 months of the year, according to figures from research firm Dataforce.

The Zuffenhausen brand is still months away from launching the next-generation Macan. But it will be a completely different vehicle, as it will be offered exclusively as an EV on a new platform developed with Audi. The latter will sell its own version of the model, the Q6 E-Tron.

In terms of which markets will lose the internal combustion Macan, the EU includes the following 27 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. There used to be 28, but the United Kingdom officially left the EU on January 31, 2020.

Source: Automotive News Europe