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Next-generation Panamera will spawn variants, Sport Turismo in the running

A few years ago it took actual willpower not to consider what kinds of cool derivatives Porsche could make with the Panamera. Our fancies were helped by patent drawings of a Panamera convertible, rumors of a two-door 928 GT and internal Porsche sketches of such a car, and report after report after report that the current, second-generation Panamera would begin to expand the family. That hasn't happened, but according to a new report in Auto Express, the next Panamera will be the one to begin the bifurcation. Wolfgang Hatz, the brand's head of research and development, told the mag that, "We have prepared it for a lot of derivatives, personally I like very much the Sport Turismo." The Panamera Sport Turismo, remember, was the hybrid, concept wagon that rolled into the 2012 Paris Motor Show and made everyone ask, "Why didn't you build this design from the beginning?" It could have been Hatz's English, but after professing his ardor for the Sport Turismo, the executive said, "But there is a good chance for more derivatives." We're not sure if that means the Sport Turismo is all but approved, or if he was speaking of the third generation Panamera's new MSB platform in general. Even though Hatz mentioned a coupe and convertible, it sounds like that latter variant won't be happening, Hatz saying that the brand already has the Boxster and 911 Cabriolet. We're willing to forgive that omission – who's really looking for a four-door convertible, anyway? – and welcome the Sport Turismo first if Hatz will please please please get us a new 928.

Tesla, Porsche and Genesis top Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey

Tesla swept Consumer Reports' latest Ownership Satisfaction Survey results, notching the top spot among brands evaluated. Its Model S also netted the No. 1 spot among the top 10 most-satisfying cars. Porsche and Genesis, Hyundai's new luxury spinoff, rounded out the top three brands. The bottom of the rankings was anchored by Acura, while Mercedes-Benz notched the least-satisfying car in the survey with the GLA, proving that the results weren't equally kind to all luxury brands. Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, told USA Today those brands suffered by introducing cheaper vehicles. The scores, on a 100-point scale, reflect whether owners say the vehicles from model years 2015 through 2018 met their expectations and whether they would buy the same car again. They measure ratings in six categories: driving experience, comfort, value, styling, audio and climate systems (what, no cupholders?). Effectively, it gauges how much people liked the car they bought. Reliability is not considered. The Honda Ridgeline outscored competitors in the compact pickup segment by a wide margin, while the Ford F-350 was among the top 10-ranked vehicles in the survey, the first time in at least five years that a pickup made it into the top 10, Consumer Reports said. In the brand survey, Chrysler rose four places to No. 4 on strong customer satisfaction with the Pacifica minivan, while Hyundai tumbled 11 spots to No. 24 and Lexus fell eight places to 18th. Rounding out the top 10 most satisfying cars were the Porsche 911, Chevrolet Corvette, Lincoln Continental, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Toyota Prius, Tesla Model X SUV, Honda Odyssey minivan and Dodge Challenger. Not surprisingly, most of those cars, and indeed most of the high-ranking brands, are those with strong brand loyalty, fan-like followings and/or those that strike a strong emotional chord with buyers. The full brand rankings are below. Tesla (90) Porsche (85) Genesis (81) Chrysler (78) Audi (76) Mazda (76) Subaru (76) Toyota (76) Honda (75) Lincoln (75) Mini (73) Ram (73) Kia (72) Chevrolet (72) BMW (72) GMC (72) Ford (70) Lexus (70) Volvo (69) Dodge (68) Jeep (68) Mercedes-Benz (67) Volkswagen (67) Hyundai (67) Buick (66) Cadillac (64) Infiniti (60) Mitsubishi (58) Nissan (58) Acura (58) Related Video: Green Genesis Porsche Tesla Ownership satisfaction

The Volkswagen Group switches official language to English

The Volkswagen Group can't be fairly thought of as entirely German anymore, so the news that the company is switching its official language to English to help attract managers and executives is a rational, if surprising, decision. While many VW Group companies are still staidly German in character and culture, consider the other companies that it controls: Bentley (British), Bugatti (French), Ducati and Lamborghini (Italian), Skoda (Czech), Scania trucks (Swedish), and SEAT (Spanish). Not to mention the large Volkswagen Group of America operation, which constructs cars in Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen's explicit motivation is to improve management recruitment – making sure the company isn't losing out on candidates for important positions because they can't speak German – and that's inherently sensible in a globalized economy. Particularly considering, like it or lump it, that English is the lingua franca of said global economy. It also should make it inherently easier to communicate between its world-wide subsidiaries and coordinate operations. It's hard to say for sure if this will have any impact on the consumer, although it's easy to see the benefits if, say, VW Group hires some American product planners or engineers and they push for features and designs that more closely suit American needs. After all, the US is a hugely important market for any manufacturer, and so the switch to English almost certainly has something to do with the outsized influence of the US in the global economy. And there doesn't seem to be a downside from a purely rational perspective, although it could mean that the Group's corporate culture becomes less German. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your perspective. Related Video: Image Credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Audi Bentley Bugatti Porsche Volkswagen SEAT Skoda