I am a new Porsche owner, have had a Panamera Turbo for about a year. So I do not have years of soaking up the Porsche culture behind me. My first Porsche was not the traditional car, but at least it is a solid performance car. Now that I have been bitten by the performance bug, I find that I am not actually looking for a Panamera, long-term. But the problem is, I am neither looking for a Cayman or a 911, at least not as currently constituted.
The 911 is the past, no matter how you slice it and no matter how much it keeps evolving. So irrespective of the virtues of any particular 911 model, I do not think that it is *strategic.* I do not mean it is not in the top handful of production cars, period, just that I do not think you can base the future so much on the past.
The antidote to that dilemna seems to be for Porsche to nibble at the edges of other demographics, and try to bring Porsche values to unrelated market segments, like SUVS, starter SUVs, sedans, etc. But this strategy predates the VW merger, and I think it is not strategic at the corporate level.

I personally want a mid-engine, AWD car that is in the 911 niche. Something that can be an amazing street car for weekends like the Cayman, but at a starter level, and also has an amazing AWD turbo model, that blows away any street legal car like Ferraris and Lambos and GT-Rs, and also has a real following in SCCA GT type racing.

I have no attachment to the 911, per se. That being said, at this time the 911 Turbo S is probably the most suitable car for me in the whole lineup, and will probably be my next Porsche.

My point is that my ultimate car from Porsche is in the future, and I also think that their strategy needs to change.

What do you guys think of these ideas? I posted here because this is the top car in the Porsche lineup and there is no overall Porsche forum.

 

honestly, I don't follow your thought process.

first it seems that you downplay the role of the 911 but at the end you're going to buy a 911 turbo???

1 thing I know for sure.... Porsche like any other company is in business to make $... so they'll do whatever it takes to make it... Panameras, Cayennes, etc... both are not the old school Porsche philosophy, but they are ~50% of their sales now...

Personally I'm all about their sports cars, but the number of buyers (relative to the entire market place) is small... They have a serious decision to make. The exclusivity and prestige of owning a P-car is dwindling as they introduce more and more vehicle styles... (N variants of the 911 included)

 

Interesting perspective…
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The 911 represents the past, present and future…not sure if I could claim it’s not “strategic” as it symbolizes the heritage of the Porsche brand. When you understand the full lineup today I think they have been very strategic in covering a wide variety of tastes and budgets.
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To say you’re looking for a starter-level vehicle that blows away super cars (e.g. Ferraris, Lambos, etc.)…what do you mean? Starter level in price from $175k? If it means a vehicle priced like Caymen or base 911 that’s simply unrealistic. Closest vehicle I know that competes with these for an entry-level type price would be the ZO6 & ZR1.
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Look at what Dodge & Chevy are doing with the Challenger & Camaro…they had to rely on a very successful heritage to attract interest in their new cars.
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IMO I think Porsche will continue to improve/evolve as they have in the past. If it weren’t for the past I wouldn’t be interested in a Porsche…it’s their legacy that attracted me and of course the beautiful style/performance of the 911 turbo.

At the cost of a new turbo S…I would definitely need to feel attached and look forward to every moment on the road. If not, I’d buy something else.

 

I think I can boil down what I am saying to this - the overall strategy that Porsche has pursued was initiated before they became part of the VW group. What was appropriate for them even 2 years ago might not be in the future. I think that there should probably be a successor to the 911 that has the attributes I described, at least. Like the 911, the new flagship model should be able to be enjoyable in a base form, as is the 911, but should be also able to be upgraded to various street, super street and racing trims.

Cayenne == Tuareg == Q7. One of them is a "better" SUV than the others, but ultimately they should share as many parts as possible.

Panamera == A7 or whatever, and/or R8 -it is an awesome car, but I am not sure you could have built Porsche on that one model.

 

You're ultimate porsche might be on it's way with the latest rumours of Porsche planning for a mid-engine supercar. It will be between a Turbo and the 918 so to speak.
http://www.insideline.com/porsche/po...-supercar.html

 

What Porsche is seeing is that it can compete in any luxury market. The Cayenne proved that they can compete in the crossover/small SUV category. The Panemera proved that they can now compete in the large sedan category. There could be a coupe version of the Panemera too. These were attacks on the BMW's and Mercedes of the world.

Next up is the mid-engine supercar class which Porsche has already shown it can hang, but there just isn't enough of a market here to replace the 911 because of it's versatility. More people than you know buy 911's because they are sporty and compact, yet have luxury and back seats. NOTHING else has that and can offer the same performance. There won't be a Porsche mid-engine car in the 911 price range because it doesn't make monetary sense. The market for two seaters in that category is much smaller based on the demographic that Porsche attracts.

Both front and mid engine have been around for a long time, so they would be the past too. HP wars will die soon with EPA regulations, so there will be little need for a mid-engine platform to cram a V8 into. Everything will be small displacement turbo's in the near future. So Porsche is actually ahead of the curve in producing really good hp, from small displacement.

On top of that, making Porsche's flagship a mid-engine platform now means that VW has Lambo, Audi and Porsche with the same stuff in different shells. That makes little business sense. What you want is out there, just go buy a Cayman or Gallardo or R8.

Frankly I could care less about Porsche's past glories. I like to have something that's different and as long as Porsche's past continues to whip up on the present on the street and the track I'm above trying to be like everybody else.

 

911 vs R8 sales.

The Gallardo sells about 3x as many as the R8 so let's say 100. You could combine those two and add the Cayman and Boxster and still not sell as many cars as the 911. And the profit margin on the 911's is HUGE.

There just isn't as big of a market for a mid-engine car. Some people are going to have to face the music. They will have to slot above or below the 911 in price. Period.

And that's not even touching the racing aspect of it. Porsche makes more money in racing anyways. And that would cause a complete overhaul to switch the flagship car because that would kill sales of the racing marquee.


Mind you this was in a month of some of the slowest sales for sports cars in decades. Corvette's hit a 50 year low in this same month. And that's a car starting in the 40k range.

 

911 Turbo is addictive, I had 996TT switched to Panamera and now back to 997TT. I never thought I would miss 911 when I sold it, but my excitement with new 997TT is higher then 8 years ago when I bought my first 996TT

 

heavychevy great responses, thanks! I learned something

 

I can not think of Porsche without the 911 , The 911 is the Core of the Brand supported by the : Cayennes , Cayman , Boxster and the new Panamera. If you look thru the Past the 356 was the core in the 50s : A car with bold looks , agile , simple and different to any other vehicle on the Planet . And I still believe that the 356 evolved in the 911 perfectly !. There is no other car like it on the Planet no matter were you look it : Audi TT ? Audi R8 ? Camaro ? Ferrari ? ...nope.

 

Buy your first Porsche and drive it. Move up the range and land on the 911 turbo and drive it and everything seems clear then. Porsche strategy is to make great cars, you can drive everyday, race on weekends if you choose or just drive fast occasionally and do it every day without a mechanic or banker on staff at all times. Who's else can do this and deliver this kind of performance and thrill factor.
Boxster, Cayman, Cayenne, and Panamera were all introduced to keep the company healthy expand brand recognition and help pay for future product development so they could continue delivering their core product to people like those on this site that are fanatics about their cars. I've had 8 P'cars and I'm not looking back but instead looking forward to the next improvement.
Well said H'chevy. I agree totally.
JS

 

Just curious... You wanted a mid engined AWD sportscar and someone sold you a Panamera turbo. How did that happen? The Panamera turbo is a luxury sporty GT car, that is mostly compared in mags with BMW 7-series and the Mercedes S-class. The 911 turbo is a legend and an incredible machine to drive, fairly reliable and tou can drive it in almost any weather. There is no supercar that can beat it as an allrounder. This is a true sportscar. I however am now looking for a Panamera turbo, as I have to get my family in the car with me also, but this is only a compromise. Walter Röhrl said the Panamera is the luxury big car that comes the closest to a 911 turbo. I am not surprised you are not happy.

If you dont like the 911, you cab always go for these upcoming babies. Good luck on your hunt:

Porsche 929



http://greensupercar.com/2010/12/new...he-918-spyder/

Porsche 918



http://blog.usarim.com/?p=133

 

I like the 911 and have owned one. I hope Porsche makes a Supercar that is more balanced. That's the only improvement I can think off on the 911.

 

This is not just contradictory ... but it's confusing .

First off an AWD Turbo will never have the go cart type of Cayman drive . It won't ever be a mid engine car. It will never have the throttle precision of a normally aspirated engine .These concepts can't even be fused into the 911 turbo description.

It doesn't even exist in Ferrari (because it's not AWD) but at least the 458 comes closer to satisfying the criteria . The Panamera Turbo might come in handy when the Ferrari is in the shop .

 

To answer ther thread title question - " Porsche Strategic Direction Wrong?"

Every time any car company redesigns a car they reveal that there was room to improve .

In my opinion Porsche puts out a fantastic product in every car category .That's why the cars sell . Car shoppers value the quality and appreciate the experience of having a drivers' car with elegance,performance, reliability, safety, and style .

The Porsche 911 is an ICON and buying one is the owners way of capturing his little part of automotive history .