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Originally Posted by Brucelee
"Porsche has been successful by "not" deciding for the customer what he/she will pay.... for anything."
Hmmm, Porsche has been successful for about 9 yrs now, starting in 1997. By coincidence, that is when they brought out a "bargain" Porsche, ie the Boxster. When the Box came out, the value proposition was clear and folks bought them in droves. As the prices increased, sales started to tail off.
I speculate about problems for Porsche in the future.
I see the Cayeene sales decline. I see the Panamera as a limited flop. I see the Cayman and its offshoots creating product distinction issues.
In general, I see a general delcine in profitability for Porsche.
why?
The name is Piech. The sin is arrogance. The confounding variable is VW.
We'll see!
IMHO!
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Hi,
Good thoughts, but it is the cayenne which turned the corner for Porsche. Total Boxster production to date is less than 150,000 units, maybe another 20,000 with the '07 models. That equates to 17,000 units/year over 10 years and that cannot spell big profits.
The fact that Porsche can produce the 996/986, 997/987 and the Cayenne and Toureg from the same Parts Bins that has yielded so much saving. R&D costs can be ammortized over a broader Product Range resulting in lower per unit costs, not to mention that Valmet can produce these things much cheaper than Porsche themselves once
Brick and Mortor costs are factored in. This is where most of their profitability has come in the past few years.
So far as Porsche's decline, I agree. There are two schools of thought in such times, try to prolong the life of the Golden Goose by not becoming too greedy, or grab all that you can on the premise that the Goose is going to die anyway someday, so get all you can while you can. Looks like Porsche has chosen the latter...