The Current Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman Will Stick Around Until 2023

Soon-retiring Porsche sports car boss August Achleitner explains the surprising reason a new generation 718 is a while away.


The last two generations of Porsche Cayman and Boxster have arrived on the scene around a year after there's a new 911. That won't be the case this time around, however. At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, Porsche's soon-retiring sports car chief, August Achleitner, told us the current 982-generation 718 Boxster and Cayman will be around for some time.

"From today's point of view you most likely will see and end [for the 982] in 2023," Achleitner said. "[This] is influenced by the Euro 7 requirements for emissions, which will influence the whole architecture of the car very strongly.

"The situation in Europe isn't really fun because there's a trend to change these requirements with dramatic speed, which does not fit at all to development times in the automotive industry."

In other words, Porsche has to spend so much money and time engineering its motors to meet ever-stringent emissions requirements, it can't put that money into a new platform—especially for a low-volume car. So, the 982 is very likely to stick around for some time.

In 2023, this platform will be quite old since the 982 is really just a heavy revision of the 981 Boxster/Cayman platform from 2012. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since the Boxster and Cayman are still the benchmarks as far as mid-engine sports cars are concerned.

Plus, we've got a new Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder coming this year with a flat-six to keep things exciting, and eventually, we in the US will get the 718 T models. Achleitner's sad to be retiring because he won't be around when those launch. Without naming them specifically, he said they'll be pretty special.

Further down the line, there'll likely be other revisions to the 982 to keep things fresh. A 982.2 generation is likely, and there's a chance a new engine might find a home int he middle of a 718. A flat-six? Porsche won't say, but we're hopeful.

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