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More on the topic (long)
All good points on this topic: I do think the 4-door will be a success- despite its outlandish price point. Nonetheless, it is notable that Porsche is quite late to the table with the 4-door: the Maserati Quattroporte and the 4-door Mercedes CLS are going to be tough competition.
Overall, as Porsche sells more vehicles they will have to be more competitive in regards to price and performance numbers. Right now people are willing to pay a premium for the name "Porsche"-- associating it with exclusivity. Bad news for Porsche is that exclusivity goes down as sales go up, so Porsche is likely to find it harder to "charge" for exclusivity in the future when that exclusivity is based more on history than present day sales.
Aside from the exclusivity issue, Porsche also has more competition in the US at all price points than it has in the past. From the Z4/M4 and Lotus on the Boxster/Cayman side, to the V8 Aston Vantage and Gallardo on the 911 side, Porsche has strong competition that did not previously exist- at least in the US market. From what I understand, things are going to get even tougher with Lexus and Audi reportedly entering the 911 market and Acura returning to the market with a new NSX in the next couple of years.
On the plus side, Porsche does a remarkable job of keeping models alive for a long time and stretching out their development costs. As much as the 997 and 987/Cayman are an improvement over the 996 and 986, Porsche didn’t have to invest too much money to make the transition from 996 to 997 and 986 to 987. Despite the marketing, the 987/997 are not truly “new” cars and it's easy to find components on each from the 1997 Boxster and 1999 996. The real test of Porsche will be the next 911 and Boxster/Cayman. Will they be developed alongside each other and enjoy economies of scale by sharing components, or will they grow into completely separate and distinct models? I don’t know too much about the car business, but I would guess these decisions have already been made. It should be interesting to watch.
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