THE 2018 Porsche Cayenne has broken cover courtesy of the red-face folk at UK motoring site Auto Express, which inadvertently published pictures of it before its official unveiling this Wednesday.

As far as leaks go, it’s not terribly exciting as the new Cayenne is barely a departure from the current model. If anything, it looks a bit more conservative thanks in part to its wider grille.

The “E3” Porsche Cayenne shares its MLBevo underpinnings with the Audi Q7 and is expected to use a similar engine line-up, including a more powerful version of the twin-turbo, electrically supercharged 320kW/900Nm 4.0-litre diesel V8 that powers the SQ7.

This Cayenne should also spawn another plug-in hybrid version using a similar 4.0-litre V8-powered petrol-electric drivetrain to the 500kW/850Nm system that is used in the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

Porsche Australia is unable to reveal further information about the 2018 Cayenne, including local range details, until after the official launch on Wednesday morning (Tuesday evening in Germany).