Porsche Axes 718 Boxster and Cayman In The EU, RS Specials Remain

Buyers in the EU are no longer able to purchase the 718 Boxster and Cayman entry-level sportscar models from Porsche.

News reports online indicate that Porsche has axed both its 718 Boxster and Cayman entry-level sportscar duo for the European market.

Along with the regular combustion-powered Macan, the 718-badged duo were reportedly axed ahead of schedule as all do not meet new European Union (EU) cybersecurity regulations, which takes effect from July 2024 onwards.

Both the 718 Boxster and Cayman continue to be offered outside of the EU. Both models were taken off this market due to its electrical architecture not meeting with the EU's new cybersecurity laws.

The issue stems from the electrical architecture used both the Boxster and Cayman, which does not meet the forthcoming regulations. Tweaking the cars to meet the new law will cost Porsche about half the budget used for an all-new model, which isn't financially viable.

After said point, Porsche won’t be able to register either models in the EU market region at least, but word has it that both the 718 Boxster and Cayman will continue to be offered in other markets until further notice.

An exception has been made instead for the 718 Cayman GT4 RS (top) and the 718 Boxster RS Spyder (bottom) specials, likely due to their low-volume nature.

Despite the new ruling forcing the 718 Boxster and Cayman out of the EU marketspace, an exception has been made for their respective RS-badged specials – the 718 Cayman GT4 RS and 718 Boxster RS Spyder. The limited production nature of both perhaps spared them from the axe in the EU.

Nevertheless, the axing of both the 718 Boxster and Cayman, from the EU region is unlikely to put a big dent into Porsche's sales like the ICE-powered Macan, the latter proving to be a historically strong seller – said crossover charted 87,355 sales in 2023, or over four times compared to the 718 lineup.

An all-electric replacement to both the 718 Boxster and Cayman is set to on sale in 2024, but this won’t spell the end of both the ICE-powered models just yet. It’s worth noting that Porsche has placed a similar strategy to the current ICE-powered Macan crossover model mentioned too.