Porsche Won't Go Smaller or Cheaper Than It Already Has
Porsche says it doesn’t anticipate the introduction of any vehicles smaller or cheaper than the Macan and 718 in the current production lineup. That’s bad news for anyone who was holding out for Porsche to build a modern day 914/4 and great news for a premium automotive company that doesn’t want to sully the brand with an affordable dud.
“There is absolutely no intention to go below what we have today,” Detlev von Platen, global sales chief for Porsche AG, told Automotive News at the opening of the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles. “We are an exclusive sports car manufacturer,” he said. “We have nothing to gain by creating a cheaper Porsche in the future. It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality in what we do.”
The company is developing new vehicles, including an electric sedan, that will definitively come in over the Cayman’s $53,900 MSRP. However, von Platen says Porsche will be offering more than just new cars in the future.
“If you want to be consistent with the product strategy we have had, in the future our investment will go more in the development of new services around the car,” von Platen said.
[Image: Porsche AG]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I always question bold statements like this. Because I'm pretty sure Mercedes declared in the early '90s that the C-class was as low as they were gonna go. Now look. "A quest for volume always ends in catering more and more to the plebs." -Packard executive, 1948
Next for Porsche is a $100k 911 4 cylinder.
Through recent years Volkswagen has paraded a series of small 2-seat mid-engined sports car concepts. Cars such as the 2014 Volkswagen XL Sport, the 2009 Concept BlueSport, the 2005 Eco Racer, and the 2003 Concept R. It was generally felt that VW wouldn't be able to make money on such a car by itself, but if Audi and/or Porsche also built versions of the mid-engined sports car using the same platform, but with more powerful engines and different sheet metal, it would justify the development costs of a VW sports car and provide new entry-level models for Porsche and/or Audi. But that was when VW still had some money. VW (and Porsche and Audi) are not going to be able to spend much money on new products and will probably just try to maintain their current lineup for the foreseeable future.
No matter how you cut it, Porsches offer good value. To give an example, the 20 year old 300 hp 993 RS is nowadays a highly coveted Porsche, and more expensive than a brand new 300 hp Cayman 2.0 that is no doubt faster than the 993 RS. A year ago, the priceless limited edition Cayman GT4 practically formed sports car nirvana according to many journalists. Now it has already been suggested that the new Cayman S is faster than the GT4.