--- title: "Porsche Design Boss Agrees First-Gen Panamera ‘Could Have Been Better’" description: "As Porsche's then-new design boss, Michael Mauer had a hard time selling his original vision of the Panamera to the board." date: "2024-08-13" modified: "2024-08-13" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/porsche-design-boss-agrees-first-gen-panamera-could-have-been-better" categories: - "Culture" - "History" - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Porsche News" tags: - "luxury" - "Panamera" - "porsche" - "sedan" --- # Porsche Design Boss Agrees First-Gen Panamera ‘Could Have Been Better’ ![]() *Porsche/9Werks TV* You'd think that a company that's built a car with ostensibly the same design for more than 70 years would be afraid of shaking things up. However, [Porsche]() has never been one to shy away from trying new things and breaking ground, even design-wise. With the first-generation [Porsche Panamera](), it went way outside of its comfort zone to make a front-engine, four-door luxury sedan with a hatch. While the car itself was excellent, its design wasn't as well received, and even Porsche's chief designer Michael Mauer can admit that. During an interview with *[9Werks TV]()*, Mauer talked about the future of the 911's design, resisting fully autonomous driving, and his regrets about the original Panamera's design. Mauer had a long career before joining Porsche in 2004, having previously penned cars for Mercedes, Saab, and even General Motors. However, only a few years into working for Porsche, Mauer was thrown into the fire to design one of the most radically unique cars the brand had ever made. ![]() ![]() ![]() "The first really big project \[I worked on\] was the first generation of the Panamera," Mauer said. It was an entirely new project, with no predecessor to draw inspiration from, in a segment Porsche had never been in before. "I can tell you, that was an interesting time." Some interesting choices were certainly made, too. Despite the Panamera's inherently unprecedented nature, Porsche decided to graft the 911's bubble-butt motif onto a car that was much longer than a 911 and required an entirely different roofline to fit adults in the back seat. While it's impossible to say what Mauer's original ideas were for solving those problems, he admits that not all of the eventual solutions were his own. Mauer had to earn the trust of board members, who weren't entirely comfortable trusting all of the new guy's ideas. So compromises were made to keep the board happy. The initial sketches provided by Porsche show a sleeker, lower sedan, but that's always the case before designers have to start fitting people, luggage space, and crash safety inside. Looking back, is Mauer happy with how the original Panamera turned out? ![]() **9Werks TV** "I can see exactly what I was describing, that at some corners, I was not able to convince, in the end, the board members to do things in a different way," he said. "There are some corners where I look at it and think 'Ah, that could have been better.'" I have a feeling we all know which corners those are. Mauer isn't outright saying that the Panamera was ugly. However, coming from a German car executive, his comments are about as damning as you're going to get. The irony of the first-gen Panamera's rather unfortunate looks is that they didn't hurt the car one bit. Not only did it sell well enough to keep around, but it also launched Porsche into an entirely new segment that the brand is still in today, three generations of Panamera later, with one more on the way. Additionally, Porsche has another four-door sedan on the market, the all-electric [Taycan](), which likely wouldn't exist without the success of the Panamera. So I think the slightly weird, frumpy looking first-gen Panamera deserves a little toast for opening the company up to a whole new market, even if its final design didn't reflect the original vision of its designer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WJPVCvi6nc *Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()