A group of camouflaged new Porsche Macan models were recently seen in South Africa and Lesotho. Unlike most such cases were pics are captured by some eagle-eyed car nut, these images, and the video at the bottom of the post, were issued by Porsche.

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Clever marketing

This phenomenon is becoming more and more prevalent as motor manufacturers try to control the news cycle around new models, and it seems to be working.

Click here for official video of the BMW Z4 caught dynamic testing ahead of its launch.

When a manufacturer issues the images and press release, they get to ensure that there isn’t too much speculation and misinformation surrounding its new product.

A facelift

To date the Macan has been an unmitigated success story for Porsche. Since launch in 2014, over 350 000 units have been sold worldwide. The models pictured in the images above are the first upgrade of Porsche’s smaller SUV. The facelifted Macan will be unveiled in a matter of weeks in China.

According to the press release: “Having been extensively revised, the Macan will shortly be entering the second half of its model life cycle. As usual at Porsche, all new components have undergone extensive load tests over the last few months, including recently in South Africa. The compact SUV has now been significantly enhanced in terms of its design, comfort, connectivity and driving dynamics.”

As you can see the head- and taillamps were masked over, telling us that these are among the areas that have been revised on the new model. We would expect the appearance to be more in line with the latest generation Porsche Cayenne.

Some reports suggest that the revised Macan could receive a power lift across the range, though there has been no word from Porsche on this.

Tests were conducted on the dusty gravel tracks of South Africa, mostly on the Highveld according to the images, and the team of test engineers ventured into Lesotho to give the cars at work-out at 3 400 metres above sea level.