If you bought a new Porsche, especially a Cayenne, before December of this year, give yourself a hand. You were a part of an important milestone in the company’s history. Porsche sales hit an all-time high of more than 200,000.
Between January and November, Porsche sold 209,894 vehicles worldwide; that number’s up 24 percent from the 169,205 deliveries made in the same period in 2014. According to Porsche, the Cayenne was a “best seller,” hitting global sales of 68,029 units and achieving a 14-percent increase.
Although Porsche moved 9 percent more metal in the U.S. in the January-November timeframe of this year than it did in 2014, it did almost four times better in China. Sales there shot up by 34 percent, from 40,504 to 54,302 vehicles. Porsche did nearly as well in the European and Asian-Pacific, African, and Middle Eastern markets, boosting its deliveries by 30 percent in both.
In November alone, Porsche delivered 18,110 new vehicles around the world; more than a third of those, 6,579, were Cayennes. That translates to a whopping 39-percent jump in deliveries of the SUV relative to November 2014.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
