Porsche is planning to produce a petrol-electric version of the Cayenne off-roader using hybrid technology purchased from Toyota. Speaking at the Detroit show, chairman Wendelin Wiedeking said Porsche wanted to boost the Cayenne’s appeal through hybrid technology.

‘At the moment it is the only way to meet future emission regulations,’ he said. The hybrid Cayenne would likely use a 3.3 V6 and electric motor producing 270bhp — the same system Toyota is preparing to launch the Lexus RX400h.

Wiedeking wouldn’t elaborate on Porsche’s long-term plans, although he admits the German car maker is not in a position to fund an expensive hybrid development program on its own.

At the same time, Wiedeking scotched rumours that Porsche was considering the technology for the 911 or Boxster.

FRANKFURT -- Porsche AG expects sales of its Cayenne SUV to recover over the next few months in the United States, its finance chief said on Wednesday.

"We are optimistic that we will reach Cayenne sales from last year," Holger Haerter said.

Porsche's North American Cayenne Sales have declined since the start of the year and deliveries fell sharply by 27 percent to 1,102 last month, while sales of its revamped core 911 sports coupe rose 24 percent.

Haerter said the fall in March was partly due to a delivery bottleneck in fitting a new seatbelt system to cars.