A simple reason why Porsche is in serious long-term trouble

[mystermykee]

Porsche was already in trouble, even with the ultimate engine and chassis. It took a pair of SUVs to save them.

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[Vercingetorix]

If they were in trouble they wouldn’t have both WEC and IMSA race teams.

 

[jww]

Well, they aren’t going out of business anytime soon, and each of our $100K+ cars only helps them with that. As to the concern that motors aren’t what makes a Porsche special, like their engines, I’d actually agree that’s a short-mid term problem. My hope is that they develop deep expertise and invest heavily in the engineering of their own custom motors development and fix that serious gap in their EV lines in the coming decade. (It will take time). Guess we’ll see.

EVs won’t kill Porsche, because Porsche won’t let that happen, they continue to adapt (albeit in slow and staid German fashion), but they aren’t really stuck on any particular technologies, ideas or designs in a long term sense. I’m sure they are feeling warm fuzzies that so many enthusiasts are concerned for their welfare, but remember it is indifference that they truly fear, not excited enthusiasts who fear the loss of the Porsche from 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

 

[whitex]

I don't think Porsche wants to move into exclusive market. Their goal is to sell as many cars as they can, that's why they are selling Cayenne and Macan.

Well, they are limiting Macan EV's for the US market for marketing reasons. This is a pure exclusivity play. Buyer comes to to dealer, asks about allocation for a Porsche, they tell the customer how hard it is to get, customer goes and buys something else which is available, unless they absolutely need that exclusive Porsche. Coincidentally, that is how I ended up with my first Porsche 20 some years ago. I wanted to buy an Acura NSX, dealer started giving me the song and dance how rare they are, wouldn't even let me test drive it, even after I offered to pay for the test drive. So I went across the street (literally) to Porsche, they let me test drive a 911, I loved the car, so I configured and ordered a 911C4 on the spot. Never went back to Acura again.

 

[Fish Fingers]

My Taycan was my first Porsche.

It wasn't the experience I was hoping for.
It spent more time in the shop then every other car I've owned combined (in over 40 years).

And in the UK, i personally found the frequent dealership visits for a 'premium brand' to be really poor.
Worse than I have experienced from any other manufacturer tbh.

Even getting it booked in and having a courtesy car was difficult. In all I tried 3 different dealerships out.
The dealerships admitted they have a huge shortage of Taycan trained technicians.
What kind of a business sells loads of cars, but doesn't have people trained to maintain them?

And when I contacted them about a possible buy back, not a single one even returned my call!
I was actually told by one dealership 'sorry, the buyer doesn't actually have a phone, he will email you back' ......which of course he didn't.

The Taycan has been very bad for Porsche imo and I bet they wish they hadn't rushed to get an EV out so quickly.
Now they are about turning and moving back to ICE, which speaks volumes.

 

[T4S]

What was the reason why Porsche went public?

In my opinion, as soon as they went public, the focus on engineering and quality went down. They instead focused on maximizing profits over experience and pleasing their investors, just like any other normal OEM.

Porsche is not a normal OEM, they never were and they never will be.

 

[whitex]

Porsche is not a normal OEM, they never were and they never will be.

They just might become one. They already share platforms with Audi. Audi recently started AUDI (no rings) brand which is a collaboration with Chinese automakers. The only thing that will slow AUDI from selling in the west is massive tariffs on Chinese cars, but eventually AUDI will figure out how to make the physical software defined car outside of China, while using the same software, slightly tweaked/reskinned. It wouldn't be the first time VWAG company sells someone else's car under their own badge (with marketing claiming it's "German tuned performance").

Porsche might do a similar thing, perhaps with a non-Chinese brand, like Rivian.

 

[T4S]

They just might become one. They already share platforms with Audi. Audi recently started AUDI (no rings) brand which is a collaboration with Chinese automakers. The only thing that will slow AUDI from selling in the west is massive tariffs on Chinese cars, but eventually AUDI will figure out how to make the physical software defined car outside of China, while using the same software, slightly tweaked/reskinned. It wouldn't be the first time VWAG company sells someone else's car under their own badge (with marketing claiming it's "German tuned performance").

Porsche might do a similar thing, perhaps with a non-Chinese brand, like Rivian.

You might be right... and that would truly be a shame. Porsche brand has value in itself but that's due to the decades of excellence in engineering, motorsports, and luxury. Now they are forced to chase profits due to going public...

 

[whitex]

Now they are forced to chase profits due to going public...

Sadly, that is the most common reason that leads to enshittification of a brand.

 

[Neptune]

First electric porsche was made in 1800's

https://www.porsche.com/stories/inn...-ferdinand-porsche-designed-first-hybrid-car/

 

[RobboWWFC]

But the competition is just as fierce in that "horology" market for Porsche. It's not like Ferrari, Lambo, mclaren and all the other even more premium brands are gonna disappear. And Porsche keeps increasing prices, to the point that you're in direct parity with Ferrari, but without offering that wild sports car vibe, at least in my eyes.

We'll see how things progress. Afterall, whatever direction Porsche is on now, will change when the bosses get replaced soon.

Porsche are nowhere near Ferrari price wise....Just my opinion. They sit in a pretty nice middle position in the "luxury" segment. (well)above premium brands like BMW, Audi Mercedes and below McLaren, Ferrari & Lambo.

 

[chun]

Porsche are nowhere near Ferrari price wise....Just my opinion. They sit in a pretty nice middle position in the "luxury" segment. (well)above premium brands like BMW, Audi Mercedes and below McLaren, Ferrari & Lambo.

Do they tho? Price difference not as big, and Porsche is increasing prices of refreshes / new models with every release by 10-30k.

I find it hard to believe people are not cross shopping.

And the direction for now, for Porsche, at least according to latest communication, is to scale down and focus on premium. So with that in mind, it will be less models with less production numbers for bigger prices...

 

[Johan Meert]

My Taycan was my first Porsche.

It wasn't the experience I was hoping for.
It spent more time in the shop then every other car I've owned combined (in over 40 years).

And in the UK, i personally found the frequent dealership visits for a 'premium brand' to be really poor.
Worse than I have experienced from any other manufacturer tbh.

Even getting it booked in and having a courtesy car was difficult. In all I tried 3 different dealerships out.
The dealerships admitted they have a huge shortage of Taycan trained technicians.
What kind of a business sells loads of cars, but doesn't have people trained to maintain them?

And when I contacted them about a possible buy back, not a single one even returned my call!
I was actually told by one dealership 'sorry, the buyer doesn't actually have a phone, he will email you back' ......which of course he didn't.

The Taycan has been very bad for Porsche imo and I bet they wish they hadn't rushed to get an EV out so quickly.
Now they are about turning and moving back to ICE, which speaks volumes.

Porsche was not early to the EV party, but not late either. There is only so much you can test before launching a line. Yes there were many problems, some of which could have been avoided. But what do you expect of a brand new drive train/engine/battery system. Everyone buying a J1 car knew they were buying a first gen car no?

All Porsche cars require much more maintenance than a normal run-of-the-mill brand. Go on a 911 or Panamera forum and check out what some people run in to.

Lastly, Porsche is not stopping EV and going back to ice, it would mean their demise. All they are doing is prolonging some ice models and that requires investments. But they're not developing a new generation of ice engines.

 

[A.Mayor]

You might be right... and that would truly be a shame. Porsche brand has value in itself but that's due to the decades of excellence in engineering, motorsports, and luxury. Now they are forced to chase profits due to going public...

12.5% of Porsche AG’s shares were floated as non-voting public shares, making Porsche AG hardly a public company.

VAG needed to unlock capital to finance the electrification transition of the group. Additionally, spinning off Porsche AG gave the P-P family a stronger hold over the company by effectively owning 12.5% of total shares through the acquisition of 25% + 1 share of Porsche AG’s 50% voting shares.

 

[Fish Fingers]

Porsche was not early to the EV party, but not late either. There is only so much you can test before launching a line. Yes there were many problems, some of which could have been avoided. But what do you expect of a brand new drive train/engine/battery system. Everyone buying a J1 car knew they were buying a first gen car no?

All Porsche cars require much more maintenance than a normal run-of-the-mill brand. Go on a 911 or Panamera forum and check out what some people run in to.

Lastly, Porsche is not stopping EV and going back to ice, it would mean their demise. All they are doing is prolonging some ice models and that requires investments. But they're not developing a new generation of ice engines.

Well the dealer never told me I was a beta tester when I bought my car.
I doubt most people who bought a Taycan were happy in the knowledge it would suffer so many recalls and reliability issues and subsequently plunge in value.

Or was that just me?

And I must have misunderstood the news reports last week.

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