Porsche has 'a lot of momentum' heading into 2023, U.S. CEO says
Porsche is also investing in its Classic business to fuel more direct customer interaction
Coming off another record setting year in the U.S., and a successful IPO, German sports and luxury car brand Porsche (P911.DE) would have a tough time topping a strong 2022.
But Porsche being Porsche, resting on its laurels isn’t enough. So far in the U.S.,at least, its sales strength from 2022 is rolling on in 2023.
“It was a record quarter, it was the record December that shows you that we started this year with a lot of momentum, so the brand is very strong,” Porsche US CEO Kjell Gruner said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “The product pipeline is very fresh, very attractive. Our new cars, the Carrera T, and the 911 Dakar, had a great reception at the end of last year at the LA Auto Show."
And there's a lot of momentum, he added. "This year we will ,for instance, get the new Cayenne, which will be super important for our business.”
Porsche would have sold more cars last year, especially Taycan EVs, if not for supply issues, which Gruner said were “really constrained.” The Taycan’s demand remains very strong, he added, and is confident the supply issues will improve. Porsche’s EV transformation is an important one, with the Macan EV coming in 2024. Currently the Macan is Porsche’s top selling vehicle.
Last but not least - Porsche is throwing a bone to its purist fanbase, who are quite loyal and a huge part of the brand’s popularity. Porsche is investing $50 million into its Porsche Classic Headquarters in Atlanta, creating a new 33,000 square foot facility for customers to bring their classic Porsche’s in for renovations and repairs.
The restoration workshop in Atlanta is the only one located outside of Germany, and Porsche said this initiative will give them a more direct interaction with its passionate American fans. It also doesn’t hurt that America is the largest Porsche classic market in the world, with 320,000 Porsche classic cars.
“It comes from the core of the brand. It is something that we love. And then obviously it's always great when you do things that are also economically feasible, because that makes it sustainable, that it means you can do them over time and that also means you can invest in that,” Gruner said.
For Gruner, the initiative makes a lot of sense for fans, of course, as well as from the business side (Porsche makes 80,000 parts for classic cars).
“There's a lot of love for the brand, from both sides - we love what we do, our dealer partners do - and the customers as well,” Gruner said.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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