Here's the latest sales figures for February as well as year-to-date. 997 numbers are down about 20% year-over-year and and Boxster/Cayman down 50% (Yikes). Panamera number, WOW.

Not sure if this economy is turning around as quickly as we thought.

 

WOW! Boxster/Cayman sales really took a dive!

I'm not surprised the Panamera is doing so well. Like the Cayenne it's a much more practical vehicle than the rest of the Porsche family. Lot's of guys want a 911 but the wife says "no" because it's not practical or they can't drive a manual or whatever. The Cayenne was a good compromise because the wife can drive it and the front end is shaped like a 911. It's also practical enough that the wife approves. Now that the golden age of the SUV has come to an end Porsche smartly introduces the Panamera. It has the practicality of four seats and it's MUCH more stylish than any SUV ever could be so the wife gives the green light and they are selling like crazy.

BTW, this is exactly why I'm not married. Call me selfish or whatever but there is NO WAY that I would ever allow a spouse to approve what kind of car I can buy. I wanted a 911 and I walked into the showroom and bought it without having to "check in" with anyone - other than my bank account of course.

 

These numbers are awful and in my opinion it boils down to one word --GREED.
Last year at this time the economy was at or near its low. The Dow cracked 7K , real estate value dropped. and the financial sector sang the blues.

But there is also one HUGE difference .. last year CPO cars sold because the prices were relaistic . New cars began to sell when Porsche incentives and discounts surfaced.

People still love the cars and they have the money to buy them . They are just a lot more analytical about frivolus spending and think twice before buying .

In my opinion --

1) CPO prices need to drop back to where they once were . Try trading in a car and see what its really worth.

2) And new cars --- porsche needs to lower the price . if it was good at 10 -22 percent off last year .. they can't expect buyers to accept 5K off MSRP this year .

 

Not sure I understand the greed part - sales are down because of greed on exactly whose part?

 

-says my wife...LOL

Boxter platform is getting old and dated already...sales will sure pick up when new design comes out...

 

Consumers are never greedy . They either buy or don't buy.
Not buying simply means abstaining .

 

Check out the CPO sales. Even with last year. That's pretty incredible. No wonder the prices of used cars are so firm. Question is, how many new cars are they making? Productoin could be well down. Could be they are selling the cars they've built.

 

The CPO is not broken down to models. Nearly the entire model line has been refreshed within a very short time (09-10) . Plus there is an added new model line entirely with the Panamera.

With the new Turbo , the new Gt3, and the Panamera released this year any traded in car is fair game to CPO.

 

Maybe, so more supply to CPO? Doesn't necessarily mean that the dealers would be taking on more cars than they could sell instead of wholesaling them out, even if they take in Porsches. It is a typical sign of a recession that more people look to used cars. It is also entirely possible that they are producing less cars to sell, so the reduced sales are a factor of less supply.

 

Like I said in a earlier post ..Dealers think all is clear and they can ask pre housing bubble prices...This year is the year that any business that does not have deep reserves will cave in..most dealers cut their staff and inventory to anemic levels..bottom line is you can't hold your breath forever.

So..there may be fewer 2010 cars around which does help the used market quite a bit...if your a dealer you have the same over head( sans the sales people that quit or got let go) but now dont have the inventory to sell ... if you don't do deals you eventually will be in a hurt locker.

My prediction is that sales wont be great this year and dealers will hold their breath until they turn blue in the fall when they realize they didn't sell many cars. IMHO late OCT 2010 will be a great time to start looking for your car. 20% off could be here sooner than they think.

 

Good question. Didn't think about that one. I'd be curious if anybody knows how much they did cut production by and how many cars got sent over the Atlantic so far this year versus last year.

 

We know that this is all speculation, but we have to keep in mind that if you try to maximize your profit you do not need necessarily to maximize your revenue for it.
I have the impression that Porsche (or better say VW) is trying to go back in selling these cars more "exclusive". In the last 10 years a Porsche seem to become a car for everybody, mainly with the Boxster and Cayenne. Short term it was a good idea, but nowadays you cannot sell a Porsche much more expensive because it's still much faster than other cars.
There are Diesel cars (e.g. BMW 335d) which cost muuuuuch less then a 911 and at the same time offer much more DD comfort. Due to the immense torque of the Diesel vehicles, some Porsche drivers (of non Turbos) are surprised when they are not able to overtake them on a German Autobahn.

Porsche cars are (and need to be) sold thru "emotions", not by horsepower.

If you ask me, I am happy about the fact that 911's are not sold to anybody anymore.

 

The current CPO program was released less than two years ago with upgrades in warranty coverage compared to its past. Once the numbers showed strength with the CPO cars .. the program became more popular . Some people even trade NON CPO cars in to buy CPO cars and now a dealership can and sell two units.

BMW was notoriois for releasing new models like the 6 series and claiming record sales . All those Panamera cars at the launch showed a lot of new car strength . Many buyers traded in Cayenne cars and that CPO market is extremely strong.

The only way to accurately interpret the CPO market is to see the exact breakdown of cars and that was not given. In short --30 more CPO cars compared to last year is not enough info to draw a comparison . It especially doesn't isolate the 997 and 997S to compare the strength or weakness of thse specific models . It's simply a data number .. and almost appears orphaned in contrast to the new car breakdown info.

 

You are correct. I would like to add one thing . The end of 2009 was extremely strong with "The Porsche Moment" (last years TV commercial is not on youtube anymore) .
That builds a lot of confidence --especially when the 2010 model has 8 or 9 months left to sell.

Even with lower production numbers .. they can still be stuck with cars.
Looking at CPO cars .. the same high priced cars sit on auto trader and cars.com .. sometimes for a very long time.

 

I just traded my 09 C2S (PDK) on a PanS (yes, very much related to what the wife wanted). In speaking with the sales manager, they are focused on pre-owned sales at this point because production has been cut on the 9997/987 models to the point that they are only getting TWO C2S' for 1H10. Now, I understand that doesn't encompass the entire 911 model range, and there was an initial large amount of 997.2TTs sold, but the sales numbers do reflect the production numbers.

This in turn affects the pre-owned prices. If less new cars are available, the demand will shift to pre-owned, which 'should' equate to higher prices on the pre-owned cars.

Now, I can't saw that it equated to a strong trade value for my car, but that has more to do with the discounts given on 911s last year. Once Porsche got aggressive with 911 subsidies, it negatively affected trade values as well. Which is one reason why Porsche is trying to get out of the discount/subsidy game...lower trade values makes it more difficult for traditional Porsche owners to trade into the next model. As many Porsche owners 'regularly' trade for the next new model, they are used to a certain trade value after 2-3 years. Not so for 2009/2010. Porsche needs to get back to limited discounts and subsidies in order to maintain the price integrity of the brand.