By Drew Johnson
Monday, Jan 16th, 2012 @ 3:04 pm

Porsche has reportedly delayed plans for an entry-level roadster. The entire project has been on rocky ground since inception, with Porsche shelving the project in an effort to uphold the brand’s premium image.

In a recent interview with Germany’s Wirtschaftswoche, Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller revealed that the automaker has delayed the launch of a new entry-level roadster that would slot beneath the Boxster in the Porsche lineup. Mueller says the decision was made to protect the up-scale image of the Porsche brand.

“Possibly we need to wait until the next generation of customers before the idea of a small roadster will work for Porsche,” Mueller said.

The news coincides with another report that indicated Porsche-parent Volkswagen had put the brakes on a plan to produce a mid-engine sports car called the Blue Sport. The Blue Sport platform would underpin the Porsche roadster, but needs full support from Porsche – as well as Audi – to move forward.

The Blue Sport project is said to be nearing the end of its shelf life, so it remains possible that Porsche is pigeonholing the entire project to avoid having to launch the new car at all.

References
1.’Porsche to delay…’ view