Disclaimer: my opinion is that of a lay consumer, auto enthusiast and loyal porsche driver.

Sales slumps suggest that Porsche GmbH may be in circumstances not that dissimilar to the late 90s when they were teetering on Bankruptcy. I’m not suggesting that they will be insolvent, it just seems that a bit of a perfect storm is brewing:
1) the EV investment is failing (as with most manufacturers) leading to dealership closures that impact brand image; and
2) significant price increases of the 2 SUVs may impact sales negatively. Very important as they have been the backbone of company profits for the last 2 decades.

These concerns are compounded in this enthusiast’s opinion by the real underlying problem: that the sports car company is not doing so well with its sports cars. Aside from the GT cars there is only 1 911 you can get with a manual! Lets be honest, Cayenne’s success was built squarely on badge appeal. Its a great SUV but I’ve always questioned whether it was the “Porsche” of suvs (is there as much distinguishing it from say an audi or bmw suv when compared to the differences between a 911 and an aston for example)

Back to my point - with softened, modernized some might even say slightly anesthetized 911s, can the rest of the lineup continue to rely on the company’s sports car image to sell arguably overpriced SUVs?

I guess the flavor of this comment is you reap what you sow. The board at Porsche have effectively taken away the manual Carrera S. The definitive 911. The one you saw someone else driving that made you say “I want a
porsche one day.”

They are a resourceful company and I’m confident that they’ll figure this all out in the long run (you may see a lot of VW parts on the cars in the meantime - like the start button in the 992.2) But my fingers are crossed that their future includes more accessible and engaging sports cars, whether by choice or necessity.

DRP