Porsche’s plug-in Panamera hybrid sparks electric response

Porsche, its name synonymous with sports cars, is gaining traction in the shift to electric cars.

The Volkswagen unit said 60 per cent of buyers of its revamped Panamera four-door coupe opted for the partly battery-powered version from its sales from June through to October.

The brand is now rolling out the vehicle in China and the United States, its largest markets.

The demand shows sales of electric vehicles are starting to take hold as carmakers spend billions to meet tightening emissions regulation.

“Customer demand is much higher than the 10 or 15 per cent we first expected,” Gernot Doellner, head of the Panamera model line, said at a press briefing near Stuttgart on Thursday.

Tax benefits in some European countries helped boost the hybrid’s share to more than 90 per cent in Belgium and 70 per cent in France.

In Germany, the region’s largest car market, about a quarter per cent of Panamera models are partly battery-powered.