Don't believe the hype: Porsche exec says fifth model dropped, financials strong
2009 Porsche Boxster S with PDK - Click above for high-res gallery
Despite numerous reports to the contrary, Executive Vice-President for Sales and Marketing Klaus Berning says Porsche is not currently planning a fifth model line at this time. This news shouldn't come as much of a surprise given that the German automaker has its hands full launching its first-ever four-door sedan in the midst of the worst worldwide recession in recent memory.
Still, the possibility remains in the future that Porsche could take another look at the sportscar market below the current Boxter and Cayman or even consider dropping a four-cylinder engine option in its standard-bearing 911. After all, Porsche will need to deal with the same increasingly strict pressures to improve fuel efficiency and environmental performance as any other automaker.
Further, Berning would like to set the record straight when it comes to Porshce's finances and its oft-talked-about merger with Volkswagen:
In the car business we are one of the very few car makers the world over still writing black figures today... Our operative return on turnover is in the double digit percentage range - a level of profitablity other manufacturers can only dream of. Our brand alone is a precious jewel... believe me, this small manufacturer of exclusive sporting cars is strong - very strong. I promise you that in a symbiosis with the Volkswagen Group Porsche will retain the independence and freedom we need to continue our success in business.Well now, that sounds definitive, wouldn't you say?
[Source: CarsGuide.com.au]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tyler 7:00PM (6/25/2009)
a four cylinder 911?
Blasphemy.
Sounds like a ricer's wet dream. "Like a Subaur WRX STi but BETTER."
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Affalterbach 7:10PM (6/25/2009)
There were reports of a modern 912, though.
In any case, maybe the next-gen Boxster could have a turbo-four.
Art 7:05PM (6/25/2009)
a four cylinder, 35K porsche? welcomed.
A four cylinder 911? complete and utter brand dilution
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bc 2:14AM (6/26/2009)
While it is true that today's Porsche intender is more likely to be a snobbish nouveau riche diletante than 40 years ago, the 911 sold side-by-side with the 912--the same body shell with the older 356's flat four--for several years without brand "dilution". Indeed, the 4-banger outsold the six at first, suggesting that at that time customers were either extreme cheapskates, or seeking handling prowess and driving feel rather than short quarter-mile times, which were and are available at much lower cost elsewhere. The later 912E, using the VW 411's boxer 4 as a gap-filler between the 914's cancellation and the 924's introduction, is a bit more controversial, but was still mostly well-reviewed at the time.
As for the VW merger, I thought the point was to avoid extreme measures to produce fuel-efficient Porsches by averaging in VW's and Audi's fuel sippers with Porsche's relatively low volumes--the "C" in CAFE is "corporate", and while there are separate targets for "cars" and "trucks", there aren't for brand names as long as they're part of the same corporation. And Porsche was seeking to become the controlling partner, not the subordinate.
Lastly, Porsche may be profitable, but they came close to proving that it's possible to be profitable and still become technically insolvent by lacking the cash flow to service your debt, when you borrow too heavily on unfavorable terms. So they shouldn't crow too loud, although it's certainly easier for a profitable insolvent firm to find a merger partner who won't dismember it, than it is for an unprofitable insolvent firm.
klitorisaurus 5:36AM (6/26/2009)
Thanks bc! That was the most well written comment I have ever seen on the Internet.... +1
xmdfmk7x 9:31PM (6/26/2009)
@bc
Well said! It's nice to see someone on here with a brain when a majority of the comments are written by pin-heads who have no absolutely no understanding of how business really works.
korona 8:00PM (6/25/2009)
So, in the end, in order to survive, Porsche will become another brand in the Volkswagen group, just like Audi, independent but not really.
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Mr Cool 11:02PM (6/25/2009)
Porsche 912 please
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feeboo 11:57PM (6/25/2009)
911
Cayman
Boxster
Cayenne
Panamera
don't they already have 5?
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JerryB 11:58PM (6/25/2009)
I'm confutzed. Don't Porsche already *have* five lines?
1) Boxster
2) Cayman
3) 911
4) Panamera
5) Cayenne
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sparrk 4:16AM (6/26/2009)
Cayman and Boxster are basically the same thing , like 911 and 911 cabrio.
GAMercer 4:18PM (6/28/2009)
I agree this is confusing. The use of the phrase "model line" really blurs things. If we are talking MODELS there are definitely five; if we are talking LINES it sure looks like four. I wonder, if he spoke in German, what the original wording was. To make it even worse, Porsche's official platform designations are (I think): 987/997 for Cayman and Boxster AND 911, 929 for Panamera, and 7L/4L for Cayenne... THREE platforms!
davidsonlaw 1:51AM (6/26/2009)
There are only four lines. The Panamera is merely a figment of Autoblog's imagination. Porsche couldn't really make a four door sedan hatchback with a rear end that hideous, right?
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GTX141 7:34AM (6/26/2009)
Typical German blow-hard rhetoric. "Ve are in ze black! I know you zaw reeports of us loozink billionce, but VE ARE IN ZE BLACK!!"
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Rick 9:56AM (6/26/2009)
Porsche's problems were borrowing billions to buy (and fail) to buy VW and then the R&D and production costs of the flop Panamera.
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