Thanks to e-performance, the Panamera is already on the road to success. Porsche will soon extend its hybrid strategy - inspired by the 918 Spyder super sports car - to the new generation of Cayenne vehicles. But before this can happen, rigorous tests must be carried out.

As part of the road testing programme at home in Hemmingen, headquarters of the Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) series, pre-production vehicles reel off the test kilometres in rainy weather and sub-zero temperatures, while a handful of hybrid Cayenne vehicles are being put through a final round of tests in far-off South Africa.

Here, dusty slopes alternate with rough asphalt. Dense, traffic-packed city roads in and around Johannesburg give way to rugged mountain passes more than 3,000m high.

These are challenging conditions for all of the components involved. In the current round of tests, the focus was on the hybrid units of the new Cayenne derivative in particular.

"We are on the cusp of the market launch and are bringing the vehicles up to speed in terms of functionality. We are testing them here once again in a customer-focussed way," says Oliver Laqua, Director Complete Vehicle Product Line SUV. Like the Panamera, the Cayenne Hybrid models will also feature the perfect combination of absolute everyday comfort, optimum efficiency and maximum performance.

During the testing phase, the new derivative has had to prove that it offers all of these features in the most difficult conditions and across different continents - including temperatures of minus 40 degrees in Northern Canada and plus 40 degrees in the deserts of Dubai.

In South Africa, the testing programme has focussed on the final elements of fine tuning. "Our goal is to deliver a vehicle to the customer that is 100 percent perfect," says Peter Hass, Team Manager Quality Management and Testing.