4 Reasons Sports Cars Are Now Irrelevant

[ekam]

4 Reasons Sports Cars Are Now Irrelevant - Business Insider

Porsche will unveil a new model this month -- one that would've been almost unthinkable a decade ago.

It's a compact crossover called the Macan, and when it arrives in showrooms in early 2015, it's expected to cost around $40,000.
If the Wall Street Journal and others are correct, the relatively affordable Macan will be a big money-maker for Porsche.

Paired with its larger, $75,000 sibling, the Cayenne, Porsche SUVs might outsell the company's better-known sports cars for the first time in history.

And if stalwarts like the Porsche 911 can't keep up in today's booming market...well, that looks a lot like the death of the sports car.

Have we reached the point where the thrill of zipping around town and down country roads in a sleek two-seater (or maybe grand tourer) has utterly lost its allure? The point where the function of an SUV is more important than the form of a beautiful roadster?

If we have, we can think of a few reasons why:

1. Tinkering is no longer possible. Once upon a time, the world was full of shade-tree mechanics. Parents (usually fathers) taught their kids (usually sons) how to change oil, fix belts, and perform countless other tasks under the hood. Today, that's a rarity. Even folks who have time for such endeavors think twice before taking them on, because the repair process has become so complicated. It's easier -- not to mention safer -- to drive to the local oil change place and let them deal with it, while you sit in the waiting room drinking three-hour-old coffee. In that kind of world, cars become tools, not toys, and the sports car becomes a pricey trinket.

2. Driving is no longer fun. Sports cars were part of the American dream when we thrilled to the idea of the open road. Nowadays, just finding an open road is a chore. For most of us, "driving" involves snail-paced commutes and clogged Costco parking lots. For travel, we head to the airport. (Which involves a different set of headaches for another time.)

3. Cars are no longer novel. When James Dean crashed his Porsche 550 Spyder in 1955, sports cars -- in fact, all cars -- were still a bit novel. They gave us a freedom of movement and independence that our parents and grandparents never knew. But today, cars are more often seen as a necessary evil -- and an expensive one. Is it any wonder that we're driving less?

4. Gas is no longer good. Sports cars aren't known for sipping fuel. Their typically poor fuel economy is just as decadent as their luxe leather seating. At a time when gasoline bounces between $3 and $4 per gallon -- and will eventually go higher -- conspicuous fuel consumption just isn't cool. That's not to say that SUVs get great fuel economy either, but we cut them some slack because they're functional. (With notable exceptions, like the entire HUMMER family.)

Have you noticed this, too -- the death of the noble sports car? Will you miss them when they're totally gone? Or are we over-reacting?

[fusionist]

This article is nonsense.

The only reason anyone would buy a 40k Porsche SUV is because of the sports cars.

[thstone]

Sports car have been and always will be a niche market. It should come as no surprise that Porsche will eventually sell more mainstream vehicles than sports cars because they appeal to a much larger segment of buyers.

IMHO, I worry more that they are slowly but surely ruining the Porsche brand image by selling what are essentially re-badged VW's and Audi's.

[Perfectlap]

Sports cars dead? People buying those 400+ HP Tesla Model S car might disagree.

p.s.
Haven't the Cayenne/Pana's already been outselling the Box/Coxster and Carrera?

p.s.s.
Porsche haven't been selling the type of sports cars that made them famous in the first place since (for the most part) the 964 was retired.
Nearly all Porsches since then are either too big, or are too mushy in the turns, or AWD makes them really understeery, or the steering feels more and more mainstream like, or they've become too easy to drive fast... just like a regular over-powered sedan or SUV.
If anything they are making their sports cars more like their regular cars. But to be fair, they aren't leaky with expensive engine rebuilds as a regualr part of the ownership experience. So you get some good and you get some not soo good.

[Nine8Six]

Speak for North America and Europe (other than Italy and the UK). The market only started about ten years ago in Asia and Middle-East. Community of sport, luxury and supercars is growing by 'millions' every years here in China alone, and not likely to stop anytime soon. All imports. Not a single week goes by without seeing a trailler full of Lambo, Ferrari, Porsche 911, AMGs, A.M., you name it they are everywhere.

Petrol imported from Russia - Cheap Cheap!!!

Go Go Green pffffff

[Kenny Boxster]

Idiot Thinks Sports Cars Are Now Irrelevant Because Stupid

Well, this article is quite a counterargument.

[pothole]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

Speak for North America and Europe (other than Italy and the UK). The market only started about ten years ago in Asia and Middle-East. Community of sport, luxury and supercars is growing by 'millions' every years here in China alone, and not likely to stop anytime soon. All imports. Not a single week goes by without seeing a trailler full of Lambo, Ferrari, Porsche 911, AMGs, A.M., you name it they are everywhere.

Petrol imported from Russia - Cheap Cheap!!!

Go Go Green pffffff

China buys super cars and SUVs. They don't buy sports cars. They buy a tonne of Cayenne in China, barely any Boxsters and Caymans.

Personally, I think the article is mostly right, at least in sentiment. Sports cars are in long term decline. Core western markets are losing interest while emerging markets want luxury cars, SUVs and super cars. Not sports cars.

And when someone buys a Cayenne in China, it's not because the understand the tradition and history of Porsche sports cars.

[Nine8Six]

Like I said, the market has just started and getting worst on the positive side for manufacturers of sport cars as well. Yes the Cayenne and Panmera are in every gardens and roads here. Still, the number of Pcars, Maseratti, AMGs, etc etc is growing by months. I share those roads believe me I can see it. Its that bad.

Ridiculous to a point where e.g. some use their 458 as DD (rush hour and all). The Supercars trend just started just a few years ago. Now to the sport cars....

Let me take a picture of the refurbed Pcar service center & dealer combined and their inventory/land size next time - that's worth seeing thinking of it. Makes anyone feel very small

Viral

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by pothole

And when someone buys a Cayenne in China, it's not because the understand the tradition and history of Porsche sports cars.

No, correct. It is a stereotype, a brand, and a proof of weath.

But that is changing also. You can see it by looking at the number of performance shops and Indy opening in every corners of the cities and provinces.

Influenced a lot by JP and the HK rich & famous, of course

PS: Showing a vintage car to a local has the same effect as if you would show them an OLD Naked Grand Mother. Picture that

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by Kenny Boxster

Idiot Thinks Sports Cars Are Now Irrelevant Because Stupid

Well, this article is quite a counterargument.

Dude read my mind...

"So what he's getting at here is that Porsche's small SUV is about to come out, and that's relevant because he claims it marks a big change where these SUVs will outsell Porsche's sportscars. Which I get would be big news, if it hasn't already been that way for a long-ass while"

[runjmc2]

Lies! I filled my SUV up for $2.999 last week, true story

[pothole]

I think the original article was mostly right, even if the author doesn't fully understand the issues.

Porsche was selling 20k Boxsters a year at one point, now it's selling less than 15k Boxsters and Caymans combined. The 911 is holding steady, but it's become a rather large GT / luxury coupe.

True sports cars are very rare. Pretty soon, all mainstream Porsche 'sports cars' will probably be PDK and turbo at which point I won't personally class them as sports cars.

[pothole]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

Now to the sport cars....

In hope you're right, but I'm confident you're dead wrong.

I think the chances of the Chinese buying any proper sports cars are zero. They'll buy super cars and luxury coupes.

But something like a light-weight, manual, naturally-aspirated, rear-wheel drive sports car with decent control weights and feedback (or at least something with most of those things)? Not a chance, in my view.

Let me know when the Chinese start buying 100,000 GT86s a year. I won't hold my breath!

[ekam]

Nobody in China would be caught dead driving a Lotus Elise/Exige, Caterham Seven or Superformance Cobra and GT40...

[pothole]

Originally Posted by ekam

Nobody in China would be caught dead driving a Lotus Elise/Exige, Caterham Seven or Superformance Cobra and GT40...

Quite. And not many in the west want such cars, either. Sports cars are dying, sadly. There's no getting round it.

[Nine8Six]

Let me put this into perspective...

That is a little regular Sunday afternoon track day here and of course a fraction (0.1%) of what's rolling on the streets during day time alone. That was 3 years ago. Figures today are 4x more attendance to track days, motorsports oriented events, and keep doubling every years according to our dedicated and local experts.

If you tell me there is no market potential for manufacturers in the sport & super cars then I'm at lost :/

[Nine8Six]

And no Ekam, no Elise nor Japanese EVOs here, nah. Thank god!

We have a lot of Shelby/GTs, Camaro (yellow?!), and Corvette tho

[coreseller]

To say that Sports cars are Dying is frankly Laughable. I cannot believe some of you posted such. As long as there are young men, testosterone, girls to impress (so we think), technology / engineering and a business model to implement to make money off of said demo-graph, There will ALWAYS be sports cars.

[Nine8Six]

^ there goes a better 'perspective' of things as they are and will be for a long-long time to come

[pothole]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

Let me put this into perspective...

Porsche doesn't break down it's China sales publicly, but it does say it sells more Cayenne in China than anywhere else.

Given that it sells more Cayenne overall than any other model by a MILE, you don't have to be terribly good at maths to work out that the vast majority of Porsche sold in China are Cayenne.

I see no evidence as yet for mass market demand for sports cars in China and a few busy track days doesn't change that!

It's all SUVs, luxury cars and super cars.