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]
Yes, I would hate to see the great Porsche name sullied by cheap and undesirable models. What we really want is another SUV baby!
Looks like Porsche saw the disaster that was the Aston Martin Cygnet and said, “Lets not do that.”
I was just thinking about whether or not Porsche would come out with a cheaper car. The cheap side of me wishes that they would, but it makes sense that they’re not.
And all this I thought the Boxster/Cayman/917 was Porsche’s modern version of the 914.
Also, the 914 was really an awesome car in its era.
I think the 914 was $3500 when it debuted in 1970. Adjusting for inflation, that’s only about $22k now. Somehow I don’t think we’ll see a Porsche cheaper than a well-equipped hatchback any time soon.
I wouldn’t call the 718 today’s 914 in any way. Price alone rules this out.
And I loved the 914 also. Still have fantasies about buying a 914-6, or at least a 2.0.
To get to a modern 914, they’d need to get down to BRZ territory.
The 718 is in every way a modern 914 2.0. Hemmings prices a 1973 914 2.0 at $5,199, and mentions that it priced out against a Corvette. Pricing out against a Corvette is exactly where the 718 is now.
https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hsx/2012/07/Version-2-0—1974-Porsche-914-2-0/3713901.html
Most of the 914s sales happened in its early years, before the dollar collapsed against the Deutschmark. $3,500 in 1971 was compact with A/C and a small-block money. The 914-4 winding up priced against the Corvette wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t even sold as a full-on Porsche in Europe, where it wore VW badges unless it was a 914-6 with a 901 engine.
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.”
Uhmmm no, your not an exclusive sports car manufacturer. You used to be for sure. You are now the maker of the go to SUV of choice for well healed stay at home moms. Seriously, as soon as the Cayenne and Macaw SUV are lined up in front of the school at pick up and drop off you have lost your ‘exclusive sports car’ cred.
Morgan and Lotus are not designing a SUV’s that I am aware of. They win that title.
Problem with Morgan and Lotus, is that they are not building anything other than SUVs, either…. Kind of like the nerd who’s never gotten laid, due to holding out for a 10.
I’d seriously LOVE to see a “Macaw” version of the Macan. Inappropriately colored interior and exterior, Big Wing, what else?
My bad, i believe you are correct there is no toucan version of a porsche suv.
No new 944, huh? Shame.
A RWD car with the Golf R engine would be entertaining.
Couldn’t someone just buy a Golf R and yank out* the front diff?
*Of course it’s that easy. You just need a Sledge-O-Matic.
The 944 was a $19k car when it came out in 1982, which is about $47k today. It climbed quickly from there. My ’88 Turbo S had a Monroney of $48k *then*, which is $98k in inflation adjusted dollars.
The current 718 has a base of $56k, basically 944 money, inflation adjusted. And I have to admit that it feels as well-built as a 944, something I couldn’t say for the 986- or 987-series Boxsters.
A wise decision. The Porsche brand is mortally wounded as a result of the insane idea of launching the Cayenne and the Macan, but for now it seems the Germans are stopping short of killing the brand outright by making even more stupid product decisions.
Still, due to the SUV folly, Porsche is dead in any way that counts. Karma suggests that the brand will be gone in the long term.
I hope you’re right about that. Porsche is way overrated.
“…the brand will be gone in the long term.”
everything we value will be gone ‘in the long term.’
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.
Yes, the return of the Porsche 912.
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.