Porsche Leipzig factory stopped working for a few minutes yesterday to take a moment and celebrate the success of the Panamera model as the 100,000th unit rolled off the production line. First introduced in 2009, the Porsche Panamera played a major role in cementing Porsche’s position as the most successful sports car maker in the world.

Just like the Cayenne SUV, the Panamera offers the driving feel of a Porsche sports car in a more practical and luxurious package. That is a hugely appealing prospect, hence the demand for both those models. Aside from having the Porsche spirit, the Panamera is also a damn good saloon car with great features and superb quality.

To mark this significant milestone, the 100,000th Panamera – a 2014 S E-Hybrid in “rhodium-silver metallic” – drove off the assembly line and through a paper wall that was signed by employees beforehand. the fact that the milestone car is a hybrid is also a hint at what the future hold for Porsche. They recently announced that by 2017 all the cars in their range, including the 911, will have a hybrid variant.

The Panamera S E-Hybrid is powered by a sophisticated system that offers 416 hp (306 kW) of power while returning an astonishing 3.1 litres of fuel per 100 km, which equates to 71 g/km CO2 .