Thursday 9th January 2014

Porsche sells 162,000 cars...

...fewer than a third of which are actually sports cars

---

With the books closing on 2013 and the year's sales figures being announced there are plenty of impressive gains being reported across the car industry, both here in the UK and internationally. And while perhaps unfair to shine the spotlight solely on Porsche to the exclusion of the others, picking apart its sales figures for 2013 paints an interesting picture of the trends in sales of fast and/or luxurious vehicles in terms of what sells and where. This is only one brand of course but the trends and shifts in power can be extrapolated across the industry, Porsche providing a useful reference point on which to focus.

Forget 911s, this is where the money is

First up? Porsche sold 162,145 cars last year, 14.9 per cent up on the 141,075 it sold in 2012. Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East accounted for the biggest share of sales - 61,534 - with Europe slightly ahead of America but the latter recording a much more significant upswing. Breaking the figures down further it's interesting to see Chinese sales of 37,425 closing on the total 42,323 cars sold in the USA, both reporting increases of around 20 per cent.

Put basically, sales are showing small increases in Europe but booming both east and west. But what are people buying?

As ever it's shocking just how small a proportion of Porsche's overall production is made up of sports cars. Saying the 911 was 'especially successful' in its anniversary year even then it accounted for around 33,000 of the total while 22,500 Boxsters and Caymans were sold (+117.4 per cent on 2012), meaning less than a third of Porsche sales were made up of what we'd probably consider traditional product. Meanwhile 84,000-plus Cayennes were sold and by the time the Macan comes on stream and the production line - geared up for 50,000 cars a year - is churning them out the power shift from Stuttgart and its sports cars to Leipzig and its SUVs and saloons will be even more marked.

Nothing we didn't know already of course. But proof, were it ever needed, that Porsche knows on which side its bread is buttered.

[B10]

Now an integral part of VW, making largely Porsche versions of cars using common VW group underpinnings. Shame but inevitable, given demands of export markets, VW platform sharing and where the growth sectors are now ie SUV.

[renaultgeek]

if it allows them to keep producing sports cars, why not?

[kambites]

renaultgeek said:

if it allows them to keep producing sports cars, why not?

That's fine until some "bright" spark in the VAG executive chain decides that it's not worth making the sports cars any more. Maybe they wont go that far, but I could easily see VAG deciding that its no longer worth developing a bespoke platform or engines for Porsche's sports cars.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 9th January 17:15

[Davey S2]

kambites said:

renaultgeek said:

if it allows them to keep producing sports cars, why not?

That's fine until some "bright" spark in the VAG executive chain decides that it's not worth making the sports cars any more.

Unlikely as they are still very profitable.

IIRC the Turbo costs roughly the same to produce as a Boxter but sells for over twice the price.

Despite those figures Porsche is still synonomous with performance.

[Shaoxter]

I make it 48% sports cars: (33 + 22.5 + 22.5)/162.

Unless that's 22,500 Boxsters and Caymans in total, in which case the total figure does not stack up to 162,000...

[anonymous-user]

Shaoxter said:

I make it 48% sports cars: (33 + 22.5 + 22.5)/162.

Unless that's 22,500 Boxsters and Caymans in total, in which case the total figure does not stack up to 162,000...

It is in total. You forgot the Panamera.

[kambites]

Davey S2 said:

kambites said:

renaultgeek said:

if it allows them to keep producing sports cars, why not?

That's fine until some "bright" spark in the VAG executive chain decides that it's not worth making the sports cars any more.

Unlikely as they are still very profitable.

IIRC the Turbo costs roughly the same to produce as a Boxter but sells for over twice the price.

Despite those figures Porsche is still synonomous with performance.

We will see, I guess. With Porsche seemingly pushing ever more into the "luxury" rather than "sporty" side of things, I can easily see the 911 becoming a pure GT; the Boxster filling the GT/Sports hybrid role that the 911 currently fills; and nothing filling in underneath.

Lets hope not.

[wtdoom]

As long as the cayennes and panameras pay for the gt3s , 960 s and 918s I say bloody good job Porsche .

Edited by wtdoom on Thursday 9th January 17:43

[Dick Dastardly]

I had a Cayenne and it's easy to see why they sell so well, and it isn't just the badge. They are very versatile and capable cars (on winter tyres it was unstoppable in the snow) and I plan to get one again soon.

[DanS]

so they sold only 22500 panameras. surprised that's 50% less than 911s.

[deltashad]

Porsche... The best 4x4xfar.....

[kambites]

I wonder how many cars VAG sold based on that platform. I assume the Porsche sells less than the Audi or VW; are there any others?

[Matt UK]

kambites said:

renaultgeek said:

if it allows them to keep producing sports cars, why not?

That's fine until some "bright" spark in the VAG executive chain decides that it's not worth making the sports cars any more. Maybe they wont go that far, but I could easily see VAG deciding that its no longer worth developing a bespoke platform or engines for Porsche's sports cars.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 9th January 17:15

wtdoom said:

As long as the cayennes and panameras pay for the gt3s , 960 s and 918s I say bloody good job Porsche .

Edited by wtdoom on Thursday 9th January 17:43

The rot has already set in with the decision not to make a GT3 with a manual box - I believe the reasons were around a small team not having the bandwidth to create 'two versions'... Meanwhile tens of thousands of workers are putting 4x4s together.

If they had wanted to they could of done - easy in a group that big. But they evidently didn't want to, not a priority, so they didn't. As part of VW the move away from what Porsche once was will be death by a thousand cuts.

[Theadamh1234]

Over 90% where automatic.

[kambites]

Theadamh1234 said:

Over 90% where automatic.

By the end of the year, over 90% of their cars will probably be SUVs... that doesn't mean they should stop offering the others.

I'm sure Porsche will have looked carefully at whether they could make a profit out of offering a second gearbox option in the GT3. They're a business not a charity - their purpose is to make as much money as possible for their shareholders, not make cars for us.

How long before the same argument is applied to the boxer engines, though? I dare say the 911 and Boxster would still sell if they used a VW sourced V6.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 9th January 18:06

[wildman0609]

kambites said:

That's fine until some "bright" spark in the VAG executive chain decides that it's not worth making the sports cars any more. Maybe they wont go that far, but I could easily see VAG deciding that its no longer worth developing a bespoke platform or engines for Porsche's sports cars.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 9th January 17:15

I doubt the 4x4 sales would be as good without the 911 flagship. I don't know what the figures are now, but when the Cayenne was introduced it was because Porsche realised that most 911 owners also owned an SUV and subsequently a lot of 911 owners replaced their X5s and RRs for the Cayenne.

Also the non sports cars porsche makes are some of the sportiest cars in their sectors, a 500hp Cayenne, 400hp Macan and mental luxury saloons the panamera, I don't think the Porsche brand is too diluted yet.

Having said that they do need a replacement for the 996 GT3, nothing since has come close as a race car for the road.

[wtdoom]

Matt UK said:

The rot has already set in with the decision not to make a GT3 with a manual box - I believe the reasons were around a small team not having the bandwidth to create 'two versions'... Meanwhile tens of thousands of workers are putting 4x4s together.

If they had wanted to they could of done - easy in a group that big. But they evidently didn't want to, not a priority, so they didn't. As part of VW the move away from what Porsche once was will be death by a thousand cuts.

No that is driven by the market , are you seriously telling me that if Porsche thought there was enough demand ie profit in a manual gt3 they wouldn't make one ? The market isn't a bunch of 14 year olds on a car forum matey . There's no point building , developing and then trying to sell something so few people want . Look at Ferrari , after the 599 they basically gave up . I think lambo have too. 1 599 manual sold in uk a handful world wide ? Why develop an f12 manual ? Panamera gts , 911 turbo etc etc no one want manuals . Then you have the acceleration figures that are hugely improved with these things , unfortunately for buyers like me these gearboxes are dying if not dead already . People also forget that the Porsche and piech families that own VW and Porsche are all offshoots of the same family , there's no conspiracy to kill Porsche by a thousand cuts or otherwise . There's a conspiracy to make money , this is not new .

[Ozzie Osmond]

When I was buying my Porsche sportscar I was staggered by,

• The relatively small number of sportscars at the dealership showroom
• The relatively small number of customers coming and going in sportscars
• The relative dominance of the website by SUV and saloons

My word, how times have changed since Lotus and Porsche competed to sell a few sportscars, with TVR and Noble also look for a slice of the market.

[kambites]

wildman0609 said:

I doubt the 4x4 sales would be as good without the 911 flagship.

In the long term I'm sure you're correct, but in my experience big corporations can be very bad at thinking in the long term if their share prices start to go in the wrong direction.

We'll see, hopefully Porsche will continue to make something sportcarish.

[Thankyou4calling]

Davey S2 said:

Unlikely as they are still very profitable.

IIRC the Turbo costs roughly the same to produce as a Boxter but sells for over twice the price.

Despite those figures Porsche is still synonomous with performance.

How on earth can a 911 Turbo cost roughly the same to make as a Boxster? Where do you get this from?