Discussion
How do Porsche keep making successful sports cars? Each generation has taken tremendous technical leaps forward. They enjoy many devoted followers to their brand of cars, they seem to have the repetitive title of the most profit per car of any company in the world. The cars themselves are legendary on reliability, performance and safety.
So what is the Porsche secret? Just hard work by many people to make the company what it is today or is their something more in the way of a Porsche philosophy?
So what is the Porsche secret? Just hard work by many people to make the company what it is today or is their something more in the way of a Porsche philosophy?
It always used to be that engineers designed first and accountants came later somewhere down the line. No accountants steering things and probably no focus groups to turn out something bland and unimaginative.
I only hope it's still the same now (mine's a few years old and I haven't driven a new one.)
I only hope it's still the same now (mine's a few years old and I haven't driven a new one.)
No marque is perfect and Porsche have cut some corners recently (yes, they have accountants too). However, as a Boxster owner, I am delighted with the car, the brand, the reliability, the safety and most of all the Porsche community (the enthusiasts that is).
As things stand I cannot see myself leaving the marque. The problem is once you raise the bar the only way is up....911, GT3 etc.
As things stand I cannot see myself leaving the marque. The problem is once you raise the bar the only way is up....911, GT3 etc.
james_j said:
It always used to be that engineers designed first and accountants came later somewhere down the line. No accountants steering things and probably no focus groups to turn out something bland and unimaginative.
I only hope it's still the same now (mine's a few years old and I haven't driven a new one.)
Deffo an engineering lead company. How else would they have come up with the *cough* attractive Cayene (SP?).
But, what is important is that Porsche so very nearly did go to the wall not so long ago. Back in the late-80's they didnt see the change in the buying public and how it turned against the yuppie culture. Sales dropped off the chart and they so very nearly disappeared. But, what they did do is some really good stop-gap models which kept them from the bink. By going back to the solid engineering knowledge they had, they launched a few key and soon to be classic cars - 968 Club sport being one. Basically re-inventing the class and contributing o a whole new market - the stripped down weekend racer for track days etc....
Building on this they launched the Boxster to huge critical acclaim, moving onwards and upwards with existing models. As much as you may love or loath the cayenne, its adding to the bottom line to help them launch cars such as the CGT. They need this profitability to keep them in business for years to come - developing cars is a costly business and only set to get worse.... they need stacks of cash in the bank to help them weather any storm that may be coming..... I am not a huge porsche fan, but the world would be a poorer place without them, thats for sure.
What is the secret of their success? Not sure really. I think that they happen to have some very sharp and clever people who have been at the company for years. couple that with racing knowledge and development which goes back decades, and you have a real force to be reconned with. I believe that the Porsche is living proof that racing helps the brand, in contrast to the half-hearted efforts that other brands try.... (mentioning no names here)....
Oh, and one final thing - two of the most successful german manufacturers (BMW and Porsche) arent fully listed companies. Both have significant share-holdings held by families who can assist and invest where investment houses wont. DaimlerChrysler on the other hand is run by accountants who drive for profit - leading to a very public shaming in quality and customer satisifaction surveys.... There has to be something in this?
One other reason for their recent success - their manufacturing process. As mentioned, they very nearly went under in the 80's. They produced high quality cars, but at a tremendous cost. They build a car, then handed it off to a team of highly qualified technicians who would de-bug it. Fix the assembly mistakes. Repair poorly installed components. The final product was high quality, but nearly 1/3 of the manhours required to build a 911 was in fixing problems (which adds no value to the final customer).
A team of Japanese manufacturing consultants came in to help. This was a decision that was NOT well received by the Germans... But Porsche management knew that they could not continue "business as usual". Their problem was convincing the workers to give them a chance.
A sort of contest was arranged - the Japanese would re-work one line and the best Germans would re-work another line to see what the results were. Within two weeks, the Japanese had reduced throughput time by 50%, Work-in-process by 70%, and reduced quality problems by 50%. The German line, well, hadn't made much headway.
I think it was around 1989, although I don't remember the exact date, that for the first time in the history of the company, the first defect-free 911 rolled off the assembly line. They no longer had to partially disassemble each and every car in order to fix problems. They built them right the first time. And reduced the manhours required to build a Porsche by roughly 30%.
I don't know much about the rest of the company history, as I have only read about Porsche from a Manufacturing point of view as a company that successfully implemented the Japanese concept of "Lean Manufacturing", as "discovered" by Toyota.
Incidentally, this same philosophy has not been adopted by Mercedes, who doesn't yet believe that they need outside help. One of the reasons Mercedes are so expensive is that they have a team to correct manufacturing errors before they are shipped. By the latest quality figures show that this is neither cost effective, nor completely reliable...
Porsche focused on eliminating non-value adding activities in their manufacuring as well as their engineering functions, which makes them more flexible and efficient. Say what you like about their products, from a manufacturing point of view they are a very good company.
A team of Japanese manufacturing consultants came in to help. This was a decision that was NOT well received by the Germans... But Porsche management knew that they could not continue "business as usual". Their problem was convincing the workers to give them a chance.
A sort of contest was arranged - the Japanese would re-work one line and the best Germans would re-work another line to see what the results were. Within two weeks, the Japanese had reduced throughput time by 50%, Work-in-process by 70%, and reduced quality problems by 50%. The German line, well, hadn't made much headway.
I think it was around 1989, although I don't remember the exact date, that for the first time in the history of the company, the first defect-free 911 rolled off the assembly line. They no longer had to partially disassemble each and every car in order to fix problems. They built them right the first time. And reduced the manhours required to build a Porsche by roughly 30%.
I don't know much about the rest of the company history, as I have only read about Porsche from a Manufacturing point of view as a company that successfully implemented the Japanese concept of "Lean Manufacturing", as "discovered" by Toyota.
Incidentally, this same philosophy has not been adopted by Mercedes, who doesn't yet believe that they need outside help. One of the reasons Mercedes are so expensive is that they have a team to correct manufacturing errors before they are shipped. By the latest quality figures show that this is neither cost effective, nor completely reliable...
Porsche focused on eliminating non-value adding activities in their manufacuring as well as their engineering functions, which makes them more flexible and efficient. Say what you like about their products, from a manufacturing point of view they are a very good company.
off_again said:
Oh, and one final thing - two of the most successful german manufacturers (BMW and Porsche) arent fully listed companies. Both have significant share-holdings held by families who can assist and invest where investment houses wont. .... There has to be something in this?
Well spotted Off Again, I strongly believe that Porsche being still owned by a family and real people has opposed to being a vehicle for nameless pension funds manager interested in a quick buck, jumping from company to company is key to their success.
Less tendancy to be short term profit driven, cutting corners (See Mercedes) to please fidgety investment funds....
speedy_thrills said:
How do Porsche keep making successful sports cars? Each generation has taken tremendous technical leaps forward. They enjoy many devoted followers to their brand of cars, they seem to have the repetitive title of the most profit per car of any company in the world. The cars themselves are legendary on reliability, performance and safety.
So what is the Porsche secret? Just hard work by many people to make the company what it is today or is their something more in the way of a Porsche philosophy?
Do you work for Porsche?
Zod said:Neither, they are just such an iconic company. Interesting to see what drives businesses like these to repetitive success. Unlike most companies who manufacture sports cars Porsche has sought to produce high-speed cars in a more commercially viable manner making these machines more obtainable to the general public. Yet to a larger extent, until recently they have managed to maintain an imagine akin to that of Ferrari, Lamborghini etc who produce a far more exclusive product.
or the Porsche Fan CLub (aka EVO)?
I think one aspect of their success is that they offer the cars in the same way that, say, VW do, in that they have a lot of options and styles. I mean, can you imagine going to Ferrari and getting an automatic gearbox? Or outlandish paint? Or a choice of wheels? no, signore!
The drawback of this, IMO, is that Porsche is the natural choice of someone who's made a bit of money and fancies a sports car but is attracted to the buying experience they got with their mainstream cars. Rather than other sports and supercar firms, which will maintain a certain degree of well-founded arrogance, Porsche bend over backwards to cater for their customers needs.
And that's how you end up with the Sportomatic gearbox, the Carrera C4S, the 'Turbo look' 911s, an entry-level VW engine in the Cayenne and so on.
In Maranello, that would be like sticking the Chrysler Torqueflite from the 400A in the rest of the range, like offering the Challenge Stradale bodykit as an option on the 360 Modena, or fitting the Scaglietti with an Alfa V6 as an entry-level car.
These things stand Porsche in good financial stead, but they do somehow take off that gloss of exclusivity found in its rivals.
The drawback of this, IMO, is that Porsche is the natural choice of someone who's made a bit of money and fancies a sports car but is attracted to the buying experience they got with their mainstream cars. Rather than other sports and supercar firms, which will maintain a certain degree of well-founded arrogance, Porsche bend over backwards to cater for their customers needs.
And that's how you end up with the Sportomatic gearbox, the Carrera C4S, the 'Turbo look' 911s, an entry-level VW engine in the Cayenne and so on.
In Maranello, that would be like sticking the Chrysler Torqueflite from the 400A in the rest of the range, like offering the Challenge Stradale bodykit as an option on the 360 Modena, or fitting the Scaglietti with an Alfa V6 as an entry-level car.
These things stand Porsche in good financial stead, but they do somehow take off that gloss of exclusivity found in its rivals.
Twincam16 said:
I think one aspect of their success is that they offer the cars in the same way that, say, VW do, in that they have a lot of options and styles. I mean, can you imagine going to Ferrari and getting an automatic gearbox? Or outlandish paint? Or a choice of wheels? no, signore!
The drawback of this, IMO, is that Porsche is the natural choice of someone who's made a bit of money and fancies a sports car but is attracted to the buying experience they got with their mainstream cars. Rather than other sports and supercar firms, which will maintain a certain degree of well-founded arrogance, Porsche bend over backwards to cater for their customers needs.
And that's how you end up with the Sportomatic gearbox, the Carrera C4S, the 'Turbo look' 911s, an entry-level VW engine in the Cayenne and so on.
In Maranello, that would be like sticking the Chrysler Torqueflite from the 400A in the rest of the range, like offering the Challenge Stradale bodykit as an option on the 360 Modena, or fitting the Scaglietti with an Alfa V6 as an entry-level car.
These things stand Porsche in good financial stead, but they do somehow take off that gloss of exclusivity found in its rivals.
You can't compare Porsche with Ferrari. They are two very different companies with different goals.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff