Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. Legacy Archives

As the 918 Spyder sells out, Porsche hints at a successor

Add as a preferred source on Google

Even with a base price of $845,000, one wouldn’t expect Porsche to have a hard time finding buyers for its 918 Spyder hybrid supercar.

Sure enough, Porsche recently told Autocar that all 918 examples of have been spoken for as of last month, and that it’s already thinking about a successor.

Recommended Videos

Of the 918 examples, 297 were sold to customers in the U.S., while China and Germany will each be home to 100 cars. Porsche has started a waiting list in case any customers get cold feet.

It’s taken Porsche significantly longer to sell its ultimate supercar than rivals Ferrari and McLaren, but they had much smaller production runs.

The 499 LaFerrari hybrids sold out immediately, as did the 32 FXX K track cars. It took McLaren a few months to shift all 375 P1 supercars, and hasn’t confirmed filling all of the slots for its answer to the FXX K, the P1 GTR.

The 918 Spyder had a much longer period of hype, though. Porsche made the decision to build it shortly after unveiling a concept version at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. Knowing that it would take years to complete development, the carmaker enticed customers with special-edition 911 Turbos as a holdover.

Now that it’s done hawking the 918, Porsche says technology developed for the car could be used to inform its other production models. It also plans to build another flagship supercar, but only when a significant advancement in technology warrants it.

The gap between the race-inspired Carrera GT supercar and the 918 was about 10 years, and that seems to be the pace Ferrari takes with its flagship supercars as well. So maybe we’ll see another mind-blowing Porsche supercar sometime around 2024.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Volvo’s purported EX50 could be the budget-friendly plot twist nobody saw coming
Volvo's next electric SUV could shake up the EX lineup with more room and a smaller price tag.
Volvo EX30 front profile.

Volvo’s electric lineup needed a genuinely affordable entry point, and a new report suggests that buyers might actually get one. 

According to a new Automotive News report, Volvo is quietly working on a compact electric crossover, called the EX50. It will be aimed at replacing the dated EX40 in the US sometime in 2027. 

Read more
Xiaomi just launched an SUV with seven seats and a bedroom upstairs
Xiaomi’s SkyNomad SUV could replace your car, office, lounge, and tent
Skynomad

Xiaomi’s new family SUV is basically a house on wheels with enough claimed range to cover more than 1,000 miles. It also costs considerably less than its outlandish feature list might suggest. The company has officially launched the SkyNomad N90 Max in China for 299,900 yuan, equivalent to roughly $44,400 through direct conversion.

Preorders are open now, with the first vehicles expected to reach customers in September. The converted figure provides useful context, though it does not represent pricing outside China. Xiaomi describes the seven-seat flagship as a “house you can move.” This unusually grand pitch starts making sense once you see what happens inside.

Read more
Mazda chief says the MX-5 Miata could go electric
2019 Mazda Mazda3 AWD review

For years, the idea of an electric Mazda MX-5 Miata felt almost impossible. The little roadster has always been celebrated for one thing above everything else: keeping things light. Add a heavy battery pack into the equation, and many enthusiasts assumed the Miata's trademark driving character would disappear along with it.

Mazda, however, appears to have changed its mind. In an interview with German publication auto motor und sport, Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro confirmed that the next-generation MX-5 is being developed with the possibility of an all-electric version in mind. It doesn't mean the iconic roadster is abandoning gasoline anytime soon. Still, it does suggest Mazda wants the Miata to survive in a future where internal combustion engines may no longer be an option.

Read more