2009 Porsche Panamera Officially Revealed

We gave you a little preview of Porsche's all-new Panamera a couple of days ago. Now the folks from Stuttgart have released a bunch of official pics and an official video of the controversially-styled sports sedan in action - and a smidgen more info to boot.

We have already gone through the critical specs in our previous article, but we now know that Porsche definitely intends to bring a hybrid version of the Panamera to market. The schematic below shows the proposed Panamera hybrid will utilise a drivetrain layout that's similar in concept to those used by BMW and Mercedes-Benz, with a compact electric assistance motor sandwiched between a conventional petrol engine and gearbox, and a battery pack housed under the boot.

Given the size of the electric motor, saving the Earth may not be the top priority for the Panamera hybrid. At best it may save you a few bucks on fuel when driving in heavy traffic.

Despite its sporting pretensions and low-slung roofline, Porsche also intends for the Panamera to at least have some semblance of usability. Instead of a bench seat there are two single pews in the rear of the Panamera's cabin, and both fold down to accommodate larger loads (more than two sets of golf clubs, perhaps?). Anybody who has ever been unfortunate enough to sit in the rear of a 911 will agree that the Panamera's interior is infinitely more commodious than Porsche's other tarmac-only offerings.

Porsche expects the Panamera to be a real volume seller, and total annual sales are anticipated to top 20,000 units. The Panamera will be making its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009, and dealership deliveries should commence a few months later.

Full details on the Panamera's engine options, transmission specs, performance stats and pricing will be revealed at Geneva. In the meantime, we can all ogle the swoopy four-door's 911-inspired shape in the handful of official pics below.

Porsche has also released a video of the Panamera taking on some twisty mountain roads, and we've embedded it for you to check out. Say what you will about the rather derivative styling, but there's simply no beating the sound of that Cayenne-sourced V8 bouncing off those cliff walls...