RE: Porsche Popular Plus
Tuesday 24th January 2006
914 Brochure
Porsche Popular Plus
Is Porsche about to venture into budget sportsters?
America's Road and Track magazine is reported to have begun speculation that Porsche is planning a spiritual successor to the Porsche 914. The 914 was introduced in 1969 and featured an engine supplied by Volkswagen.
914 Brochure
Apparently based on the Boxster platform, the new 914 would take Porsche into MX-5 territory providing those on smaller budgets with access to the premium brand.
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Discussion
Nice idea and I hope they make one, but I don't think it's gonna happen. Apparently the reason why the Cayman has more power than the equivalent Boxster is because, were the outputs the same, a 2.7 Cayman would have cost less than £30k and that was judged to devalue the marque to much.
Besides which, the Boxster is the successor to the 914; a roadster positioned below the 911. Where would a cheaper model fit into the market? It would have to be equal to the low-end Z4's and SLK's and I can't see Porsche making a car that can't at least match the best it's German rivals produce.
Porsche own 18% of Volkswagen, and have enough free capital to develop the Panamera on their own Deutsche Mark. I think that makes they secure. In fact, radical departures from their traditional markets, such as into low-margin, mass market cars like the MX-5, might be the only thing that could destabilise them. (Whilst the Cayenne was a bit of a departure, the risk wasn't very large, VW were wearing the tousers on that one).
Besides which, the Boxster is the successor to the 914; a roadster positioned below the 911. Where would a cheaper model fit into the market? It would have to be equal to the low-end Z4's and SLK's and I can't see Porsche making a car that can't at least match the best it's German rivals produce.
mk1fan said:
A move like this could secure Porsche's future.
Porsche own 18% of Volkswagen, and have enough free capital to develop the Panamera on their own Deutsche Mark. I think that makes they secure. In fact, radical departures from their traditional markets, such as into low-margin, mass market cars like the MX-5, might be the only thing that could destabilise them. (Whilst the Cayenne was a bit of a departure, the risk wasn't very large, VW were wearing the tousers on that one).
There is a downside to this - if Porsche produce a budget sportster mid-engined thingy, it'll almost certainly create financial problems for Lotus and their Elise. To the average non-marque-biased customer offered a choice between the Elise and the same thing with German reliability, they'll go with Porsche.
I have a feeling, though, that Porsche is trying to return to it's '70s glory-days lineup. With the modern '914' in place, the standard 997 Carrera propping up the range, the GT3 taking the place of the classic 2.7 RS, the new turbo in place of the 930 Turbo, and the Boxster taking the place of the 914-6 (not to mention the dear departed, 917-a-like Carrera GT), Porsche have rediscovered their soul.
Now get rid of that blasted Cayenne fridge-on-wheels and give us the long-awaited 928-replacement V8-powered grand tourer, dammit!
I have a feeling, though, that Porsche is trying to return to it's '70s glory-days lineup. With the modern '914' in place, the standard 997 Carrera propping up the range, the GT3 taking the place of the classic 2.7 RS, the new turbo in place of the 930 Turbo, and the Boxster taking the place of the 914-6 (not to mention the dear departed, 917-a-like Carrera GT), Porsche have rediscovered their soul.
Now get rid of that blasted Cayenne fridge-on-wheels and give us the long-awaited 928-replacement V8-powered grand tourer, dammit!
Can't see this happening. Think it would devalue the brand just as Porsche has spent 15 years getting it back out of the mire.
And margins are slim at that end of the market anyway. I am sure they know they would be better off producing more high-end models, even though the volumes are smaller.
I do wonder if they could use their new chums at VW to make things like the Boxster and Cayman for them though, rather than using Valmet. Could save them money.
hendry said:
Can't see this happening. Think it would devalue the brand just as Porsche has spent 15 years getting it back out of the mire.
I agree. The Boxter was a calculated foray into a lower price, higher volume segment.
It also led to a very real reduction in component costs for 911 as well, as so many components were shared and the economies of scale were much larger.
hendry said:
I do wonder if they could use their new chums at VW to make things like the Boxster and Cayman for them though, rather than using Valmet. Could save them money.
Probably not.
The likes of Valmet, Karmann, Magna etc are geared up for (relatively) low volume production.
VW, like most OEMs, is not.
huge said:
Can you imagine the list of expensive options,just to make it worth owning.....mx-5 money ?
probably more like X5 money by the time its decently specced up.
a dead basic 4-pot porsche roadster with ZERO extras would be much more worth owning to my mind than a bloated air-conned, sat-navved, electric everything, steel folding roof, behemoth. those things do would have nothing to do with making it 'worth owning' to me
never mind 914, i want 550 spyder style
I think the car would have the same effect on porsche as the cayenne. It will be great for sales but the purists will have a heart attack. This may or may not be a good thing, as things stand now, i would rather take the bus than a cayenne, but the truth is, profits dictate products, not purists, sad but true. Hopefully this car will be a bit less blasphemous than the cayenne though...
Twincam16 said:God, you don't half talk some old pony sometimes, TC.
There is a downside to this - if Porsche produce a budget sportster mid-engined thingy, it'll almost certainly create financial problems for Lotus and their Elise. To the average non-marque-biased customer offered a choice between the Elise and the same thing with German reliability, they'll go with Porsche.
I have a feeling, though, that Porsche is trying to return to it's '70s glory-days lineup. With the modern '914' in place, the standard 997 Carrera propping up the range, the GT3 taking the place of the classic 2.7 RS, the new turbo in place of the 930 Turbo, and the Boxster taking the place of the 914-6 (not to mention the dear departed, 917-a-like Carrera GT), Porsche have rediscovered their soul.
Now get rid of that blasted Cayenne fridge-on-wheels and give us the long-awaited 928-replacement V8-powered grand tourer, dammit!
hugoagogo said:
Can you imagine the list of expensive options,just to make it worth owning.....mx-5 money ?
probably more like X5 money by the time its decently specced up.
a dead basic 4-pot porsche roadster with ZERO extras would be much more worth owning to my mind than a bloated air-conned, sat-navved, electric everything, steel folding roof, behemoth. those things do would have nothing to do with making it 'worth owning' to me
never mind 914, i want 550 spyder style
I wonder, will it be a warmed over Golf
or an Elise-beating RSK/550 revival 
. In the Golf scenario it will be a money grabber but the brand will stretch to breaking point, in case it's a stripped out 550 it would be genius; Boxter performance for Mazda money and the thing to differentiate it from the rest of the range would be lack of luxury, keeping sales and brandstatus healthy.
Although to be honest, I don't think there is a chance in hell of anything Porsche being offered without Porsche-name premium.
I also wonder if it will be retro and if so, if they will use that revolting 70's pea-soup green like all others did before them.
>> Edited by errek72 on Tuesday 24th January 15:45
I could see this working - a car for hairdressers with style and limited wallets who think MX-5s are fun but cheap and BMW Z4s try too hard (i.e. me). But the German entry-level sportscar market is pretty full what with the Z4 and the Merc SLKs. These are both reasonable cars. Is there room in the market for another MX-5 with class type car? Porsche still does have a wonderful brand image and reputation and it should surely be able to design a car that could handle better than the Z4 or SLK.
Japanese competitors would include the MX-5, Celica and whatever Honda does to replace the S2000. VW used to do the 914 before it did the 924 and gave it up to Porsche, so it has some knowledge about these kind of entry-level fun cars. I hope the two companies go for it. Porsche competition like this would make everyone raise their game.
Japanese competitors would include the MX-5, Celica and whatever Honda does to replace the S2000. VW used to do the 914 before it did the 924 and gave it up to Porsche, so it has some knowledge about these kind of entry-level fun cars. I hope the two companies go for it. Porsche competition like this would make everyone raise their game.
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