What is the reason why the Porsche 911 Dakar was not called 911 Safari? We all expected the last name Safari, but Porsche changed the name of its latest addition.
The new Porsche 911 Dakar was released just a few months ago as a variant of the famous German sports car more focused on the world of off-road. But, the last creation of Porsche had to receive another denomination, reason why the final decision surprised us all. So what is the reason why the Porsche 911 Dakar was not called the 911 Safari?
According to a new report from Edmunds, the German automaker actually intended to use the Safari surname, but it ran afoul of Tata Motors. In various markets around the world, the Indian company has registered the rights to the name ‘Safari’ to use it in an SUV that it sells under that name.
The reason the Porsche 911 Dakar wasn’t called the 911 Safari
Therefore, the only viable solution if they wanted to use this name was for Porsche to reach an agreement with Tata. “We talked to them,” Thomas Krickelberg, director of the 911 Dakar program, told Edmunds. “But they didn’t give us permission for that. That was option A. And then we switched to Dakar.”
However, that change from 911 Safari to 911 Dakar was not as smooth as it sounds. The organizers of the Dakar Rally hold the trademark for the use of the name on automobiles.
Therefore, the Stuttgart-based company paid an undisclosed amount for the right to use this designation on the car based on the 911 Carrera.
The Porsche 911 Dakar was introduced in November last year as a version of the Porsche 911 that offers higher ground clearance, four-wheel drive, unique aesthetics and a 3.0-liter six-cylinder twin-turbo boxer engine developing 480 hp of power and 570 Nm of torque managed through a PDK automatic transmission. In Spain it is already on sale for 256,042 euros.