The Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Is Dead

Let’s all gather around and take a moment of silence for the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo. As the big German saloon (or hatchback, if you’re being picky) enters a third generation, the estate variant has been killed off.

Speaking with Automotive News Europe, a Porsche spokesperson cited low demand as the reason for its culling, stating: “In China and the U.S. – our main markets in the D segment – the Sport Turismo plays only a minor role. For this reason, we have decided to discontinue this model variant with the launch of the new generation.”

Porsche hasn’t publicly stated a figure of the split between the regular Panamera and the Sport Turismo, but Autocar reports the estate made up for just 10 per cent of the outgoing model’s volume. Those keen on a big-booted Porsche fix can still opt for a Taycan Cross or Sport Turismo, at least.

If you can live without the extra space, at least the third-generation Porsche Panamera has a lot to offer. Most interesting to us is the Turbo E-Hybrid, offering 681bhp and 686lb ft of torque - a little down on peak horsepower compared to the outgoing Turbo S E-Hybrid yet with more torque. It leaves us wondering what the new, full-fat Turbo S could offer when it inevitably arrives.

There’s also some clever new suspension technology, and a battery bigger than that in the electric-only Dacia Spring allowing for a quoted maximum of 56 miles of range on a single charge.

For those who must simply have their big fast German in estate flavour, at least there are still options. The Audi RS6 is still on sale, with rumours of one-last hardcore version in the works, while the new BMW M5 will get a Touring variant for only the third time in the model’s history.