CarSeekBlog

Right in the middle of a recession may not be the best time to talk about a Porsche, but hey, there’s no charge for drooling, right? At the Shanghai Auto Show Porsche showed off its new offering for the luxury sedan segment, the Panamera.

The four-door sports car will retail in Germany for approximately $122,600, but will come to the United States with an asking price of $89,800. When it goes on sale in China in January 2010, however, it’ll take $270,800 to drive one away ($365,900 if you want the turbo version.)

The Panamera will go head to head with the Maserati Quattroporte and the Mercedes-Benz CLS. Porsche hopes to sell 20,000 units a year with nine out of 10 of those customers being first-time Porsche owners.

Speaking at the Shanghai Auto Show, Klaus Berning, the head of sales and marketing for the company said, “Porsche is aiming both at the segment of classic sports coupes, Gran Turismos and the luxury performance range. In economically good times, this means a global market volume to the tune of one million new cars sold each year. And we will now take our piece of this cake.”

The V8 model will debut first, followed later in the year by a V6, and even a hybrid at an unspecified date down the line. The Panamera has a dual-clutch gearbox and a start-stop system with an automatic transmission, which Porsche is touting as a first for a luxury car in this class. Estimated fuel economy is a combined 26.2 miles per gallon.

Most of us can’t afford it. But darn, it’s fun to look.

Filed under: Porsche by Shorty