Geneva 2010: Porsche Cayenne

One of the most emblematic and landmark vehicles of the previous decade has no doubt been the Porsche Cayenne.

Porsche purists moaned and complained about its introduction, saying a Porsche emblem could never rightfully grace an SUV. Years later, the debate still rages.

What cannot be debated, however, is the incredible success that it has had. With it, Porsche has grown in volume and profit margins.

Nearly a year ago, the 250,000th Cayenne was built at the company's Leizpig factory, which is also now home to production of another controversial vehicle, the Panamera.

The updates to the current Porsche Cayenne have not been appealing in this writers opinion. The original Cayenne was no doubt handsome, but the refresh it received took away from that a bit.

We're think that the Cayenne is the looker of the SUV segment. It shares a platform with the VW Touareg, which is also being introduced at the Geneva Auto Show.

It is interesting how the two are being debuted so close together - you would think it would be wise to space out the introductions of the Touareg and Cayenne, as to not draw comparisons to the sharing done between the two.

The Cayenne's styling follows in sort of the same vein as the Porsche Panamera, but the look works much better on a SUV. The body is much more rounded and sporty than the current Cayenne.

If it looks smaller, it is an illusion - the new Cayenne is 1.9 inches longer than the previous generation, and it also adds 1.6 inches to its wheelbase length.

Inside, it looks like Porsche tried to take cues from the interior of the Panamera, an area it has been lauded (and rightly so). There are the two vertical vents flanking the navigation screen in the middle, as well as the button-lined center console that cants upward.

Somehow though, the Panamera's interior manages to look far more upcale, at least from the photos currently out. The navigation screen also looks to be quite small compared to those coming out on new models.

These are just first impressions, but the interior has never been a strong point on the current Cayenne either. The VW Touareg definitely has it beat.

Like VW Touareg, it (very, very impressively) bucks the trend of new vehicles becoming larger, and therefore heavier, with each passing generation.

While gaining interior space, the Cayenne S sheds 400 pounds (!) over its predecessor. That is a very large number, especially considering the larger dimensions.

Porsche keeps it pretty simple with the engine lineup. The entry-level Cayenne is again the V-6 model, with a 300-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 engine mated to Porsche's new eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission.

Next up in the trim level ladder is the Cayenne S, with a 4.8-liter V-8 that makes 400 horsepower, 15 ponies more than the previous model.

Porsche says that performance is "markedly increased" when combined with the reductions in weight.  The top model, the Cayenne Turbo, retains its 500-horsepower 4.80liter twin-turbocharged V-8 like the previous model.

Revolutionary? No, with a blockbuster model like the Cayenne that wasn't going to happen. However, we think the changes are certainly enough to keep buyers of the previous model coming back for more.