2011 Porsche Cayenne launched, Hybrid here as well!

The much awaited 2011 Porsche Cayenne has been launched in India, and is all set to rattle up the competition, again!

You've read about it here in the past few weeks and Porsche has launched the meanest SUV in the Indian market in its new avatar. Many ridiculed Porsche's move into SUV territory when they first announced that they were going to build and sell the Cayenne but one look at the German sportscar manufacturer's sales sheets will show that it was indeed a great decision. Over the years the Cayenne has garnered quite a reputation for its SUV prowess coupled with phenomenal supercar handling and now the 2011 version is set to make things even more interesting!

It's all about going green the world over and the Porsche Cayenne is no different - in more than one way! First off, the new Cayenne is claimed to be up to 23 percent more fuel efficient than the previous generation and more importantly, as a celebration of its premiere in India, Porsche is also offering the Cayenne S Hybrid for sale. The 2011 Cayenne range starts with the Rs 65.82 lakh variant that comes with not suffix. The Cayenne is powered by a 300 horsepower 3.6 litre V6 petrol engine mated to a Tiptronic S eight-speed transmission. Next in the range is the 400 bhp, 4.8 litre V8 Cayenne S that will carry a tag of Rs 78.62 lakh.

Moving up is the monster 500 bhp, 4.8 litre V8 Cayenne S Turbo - the most powerful Cayenne on the list. Armed with 'Porsche Intelligent Performance' the Cayenne S Turbo also manages a 23 percent drop in fuel consumption compared to the earlier model and also comes with mammoth price tag of Rs 1.27 crore. A nd then of course is the 240 bhp Cayenne Diesel tagged at Rs 59.22 lakh, which is also the cheapest in the Cayenne range that money that buy. Rounding off the Cayenne range in India is the radical Cayenne S Hybrid at Rs 75.46 lakh. The Hybrid mates a 333 horsepower 3 litre supercharged V6 engine with a 47 hp electric motor and can operate on either both, or a single power unit based on drivinig conditions. Combined, the two drive sources on the Hybrid churn out 380 horsepower and 580 Nm of torque that peaks at as low as 1000rpm, making city driving a breeze and also offering similar performance to the Cayenne S. In essence the Cayenne S Hybrid thus mates eight-cylinder performance with the fuel efficiency of a six cylinder engine.