Judging by the reception to an earlier article of ours, it seemed quite a few people were optimistic about the speculation that Porsche could be bringing to market a spiritual successor to the 928. Especially one that shared styling cues and components with the new Panamera. After all, who wouldn't think a smaller, lighter and hopefully more agile "junior Panamera" would be a good idea? Alas, Motor Trend is now saying that such a future for this in-all-but-name 928 isn't actually in store.

The 928 won't be heading for production anytime soon, even though the project has been reviewed by the head honchos at Porsche. The reason for this, you ask? Because the car would potentially be too close to its only true rival, the Bentley Continental GT. There isn't really much point in releasing a new grand tourer if all it's probably going to do is steal sales from a sister car, is there? Worse still, Motor Trend is claiming the prototypes we saw back in July aren't ever destined to be turned into production cars with Porsche crests, as those development cars are actually trying out technology that'll feature in the next-generation of Bentley Continental models.

All is not lost, however, as Motor Trend is also claiming a shorter, Panamera-style vehicle that we thought would result in us getting a spiritual 928 successor will instead form the bedrock of an even more intriguing Porsche: The production-ready Mission E electric vehicle. If this ends up being the case, then we'll likely have to wait a good while before customer-spec examples are showcased for the first time. Hopefully our patience will be duly rewarded with a properly punchy and impressive Porsche to hold as much esteem for as we do the 928.