Report: VW board votes to ax Porsche Cayenne, Panamera

Porsche may have expanded out of the sports car segments over the last few years - first with the Cayenne SUV and most recently with the Panamera sedan - but the now Volkswagen-led will be returning to its roots over the next few years.

Although the Cayenne has been a huge money maker for Porsche, it really doesn't fit in the automaker's sports car theme. As such, Volkswagen's board has decided to ax the Cayenne from Porsche's product line after the next-generation of the SUV has run its course. An updated version of the Cayenne will bow for the 2011 model year, but no updates are expected thereafter.

Perhaps even more surprising, VW's board has also voted to kill off the recently launched Panamera sedan after its initial run, according to Car. The Cayenne and Panamera are expected to finish their current life cycles with production ceasing sometime in 2016.

"VW Group has plenty of SUVs and saloons [sedans] -- it doesn't need Porsche to build them," an inside source told Car.

Despite the thinning of the ranks, VW is said to be working on a new entry-level vehicle for Porsche. As previously reported, the new model would slot beneath the Porsche Boxster and share its underpinnings with a production version of the VW Bluesport concept.