Porsche has regrettably announced today that the Type 982 718 Boxster and Cayman are no more, at least in the European Union. The cars will still be available in other regions of the globe for the remainder of 2024, however.
Citing the new EU cybersecurity laws, which are extremely strict to attempt to curb theft of highly connected cars, coming into effect in July of this year, Porsche decided to stop accepting orders within continental Europe so that current orders can be fulfilled before the deadline. Any dealer lot stock is still available, if anyone wants a 718 in the EU, although any unsold/undelivered cars on July 1, 2024, will not be allowed to be registered within the EU.
All is not lost, though. The top-spec Cayman GT4 RS and Boxster RS Spyder, being limited production cars, are exempt from the new law. As well, while Porsche could update the current 718’s to meet the new cybersecurity laws, to do so would cost about half as much as developing the all new fifth gen 718s.
As well, the fourth gen Boxster and Cayman are both relatively old models, having being introduced in 2016 under the Type 982 moniker. Much like how the first generation Macan (2014 to 2023) is being gently discontinued over a couple of years for its second gen (2024+) EV model to take over, the same will be happening with the 718 badge.
The fifth generation Cayman and Boxster, expected to release in mid-2025, will be full EV cars. They will coexist around the rest of the world as the Type 982 is slowly phased out, with full production expected to cease in 2026.
Still, Europe is one of Porsche’s biggest two markets, with North America being the other, so it is a sad day for everyone’s favorite entry level sports cars.
