Porsche has pulled the plug on its entry-level sports car models — the Cayman and Boxter — in the European Union ahead of the upcoming cybersecurity law. The announcement comes following the discontinuation of the ICE-powered Macan for the same reason.
The Porsche Cayman and Boxter models served as an entry point to the sports car range of Porsche. While the baseline models of both the Cayman and Boxter are discontinued, the go-faster Cayman GT4 RS and Boxter RS Spyder will be exempted from the law due to limited production.
The new cybersecurity law will come into force in July 2024, putting an end to all vehicles that do not comply with the updated protocol. An official Porsche spokesperson shared that the 718 platform was not developed in line with the new law, since the guidelines were not revealed. As a standard practice, the vehicle platform is designed complying to the cybersecurity protocols from the start, which includes multiple control units and modules. Reverse engineering the 718 platform to comply with the new law is not feasible, given the arrival of an all-electric replacement.
It is worth mentioning that the Cayman and Boxter models are discontinued in the European Union and some states that apply EU legislation. The remaining markets in Europe and around the globe will continue to get the 718 models for the time being, before the inevitable arrival of the all-electric replacement in the next 2 years.
If you have recently bought a new 718, there is no need to worry. Porsche ensures that while the 718 models do not comply with the upcoming cybersecurity law, its security systems are competent enough to avoid any mishandling. “We regularly check the cybersecurity of our products and work together with the global security community using a publicly accessible interface”, revealed an official Porsche spokesperson.