Has Porsche lost its magic touch?
Where should I start? Well, let’s start from the 80’s since I don’t want to go that far back. Does everyone remember when one would hear the name ‘Porsche’ they would always regard it as the high end Sports Car and would go on as to Porsche is not for everyone only if you’re a millionaire, a Doctor, or a Lawyer? It was actually during the same period, 80’s and late 90’s, that Porsche produced some of their best cars that ever existed and became synonymous with performance. Of course, earlier than that Porsche was known for their race history and engineering such as 907, 917 and…. but it was in the 80’s and early 90’s that the company really shone for their road going cars.
I remember the 930 and 964 models that had such an affect on me; I always wanted to have one. Performance wise no one could match the figures, styling wise they were so outcast yet so very beautiful. I also remember when the 993 was introduced I was so wickedly in love with that car that I was ready to sell my body organs to raise enough money to buy one. Every once in a while you would see one out in the streets and everyone would clear the lane for Porsche. It had style, class, performance (for that time period) and uniqueness that no other cars carried.
No doubt that the company was doing very badly financially but that was due to all resources being used in Engineering and development and didn’t have a good leader. Then, the board decided to get a good leader to turn the company around before they go belly up. Sure enough they hit bulls-eye with Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking. Needless to say, some key figures left the company due to conflicts in the new management style and their beliefs that was the continuation of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche beliefs. To name one that everyone knows would be Dr. Ulrich Bez, the father of 993 (911) that is heading Aston Martin at the present time.
The new management under Dr. WW definitely turned Porsche financial situation around but is this style of management taking Porsche out of its roots too? Has Porsche lost its magic touch?
Having financial stability one thing and loosing the goose bump feeling that whenever Porsche name was brought up is something else. After the Boxster introduction and the famous water-cooled engine of 996, which turned Porsche financially the most profitable automaker, Porsche started to slide its glories and zest among many Porsche lovers. At least this is true for the United States that Porsche doesn’t have the same prestige as it did decades ago. Nowadays people look at Porsche as a little upper scale than BMW and Mercedes. Porsche has definitely lost its turning-head touch; in every corner you see one, not that is bad, but exclusivity has long been gone. To me if you’re looking at performance the new Corvette Z06 has beat them all(Porsche, Aston, Ferrari, Lambo….) but we’re talking about the originality and Porsche’s fame which is being vanished little by little and sooner than later.
For the readers not to get me wrong with someone that would just read and write about Porsche, 997 models totally changed my mind about Porsche’s philosophy. May be I should mention that I have always loved Porsche since childhood and have owned 6 Porsches in my lifetime and I’m approaching mid 40s, never mind the books and magazines collections. I have owned 993, Boxster, 996 (many different models) no 997 though, I’ve had enough.
I test drove one but didn’t feel any different than the 996 C2 I’ve owned plus, for example, the annoying memory seat in the door that at each turn my left knee would hit it and would change my seat’s position. I can tell many hours and a lot of talent went into the ergonomic design of memory seats, right?. The stop-watch on the dash, very tasteful NOT, well the list can go on for pages, let’s get back to the main point.
I thought building a SUV would be bad but Porsche has out done itself with the introduction of the new Cayman S sitting between Boxster S and Carrera; can it get more bizarre than categorizing a car this way? Porsche needs an overhaul in their Marketing and Strategy department. This dept. is taking them down sooner than they can imagine. I truly don’t comprehend Porsche’s logic. Their Cayenne after a few years is the biggest failure in the SUV segment (selling wise) and now they’re thinking about a smaller version. Their new 911 models are pilling up at the dealer’s lots and now they’re thinking about a Sedan.
May be Porsche got too comfortable with themselves and thought they could pretty much sell anything under the legendary name ‘Porsche’; but where they went wrong was the fact which they kept reintroducing new models with new designation such as 996, 997, 986, 987 and they’re all literally the same with some minor engine works and hard to tell cosmetic changes. Porsche should know that their 996 line was the most successful line in the company’s history because it looked different than what they had before not because it was a better performer. Look at base model 997, same car as the 996 with 5 more ponies (engine mapping) some interior and hard to tell exterior changes from the old model, and higher price.
First off where did Porsche find their marketing force? From Mars? Do they really think that people are as gullible as they think? Where do they come off with 997 and 997S and rip people off with their ridiculous options. For supposedly newly developed and over priced 997 they charge you $1200 or $1300 for xenon head lights which has to be standard in my opinion. Look at the 911 engines? What’s really different between the 996 model year and the 997 model year in the base 911? May be a little engine mapping and all new interior and the ridiculous stopwatch in the dash which you have to pay another $900 for supposedly sharper throttle response that a real sports car should have in the first place.
With great wait and anticipation now comes the new Turbo and the GT3. Well, turbo seem to get some after thought parts slap to it, such as the front LED signal lights but rear lights are lacking the LEDs or those horrendous air inlets on each side that was robbed from TechArt. Porsche used to introduce new and cutting edge technologies with introduction of each turbo and with the new 997TT besides Variable Turbine Geometry (marketing hype) I seriously can’t point out anything else. Well, he new 4WD system isn’t anything new since AUDI mastered it long time ago. PDK, which is Porsche’s version of auto transmission like SMG by BMW, E-gear in Lamborghinis and F1 in Ferraris, is not even out there yet.
My prediction is that the 997TT will do well for the first year but we’ll see many of them in the dealerships as the fever goes down within a year. Performance remains to be seen but so far I haven’t seen anything breathtaking about it like the way it was for the 996TT when it came out. I’d say for a car that cost well into $150k I personally can’t tell the difference between the 996TT and 997TT. The new design is really bland and plain. People brag about the performance rather than the looks but I guess one has to justify the high price they pay for this car. If the new turbo had Chevy or Viper badge on it nobody would even look at it, isn’t it true?
GT3 still remains the purist of all among other 911-model range but again with the new 997 the same engine as the old one but tweaked a little bit. GT3 seems to be still the magic key to the 911 family but for god sake for a car that costs to $106k and drive out $122k the xenon lights should be standard.
As we all know Porsche has never introduced so many models in such short period of time in their history. This, in fact, is an indication that the new models are not doing so well. Porsche needs to reevaluate their strategies and execute accordingly. Why not a mid-engine Gallardo and F430 competitor? People that love 911 will still buy 911.
I know it won’t do any good to complain but since I was Porsche admirer as a kid and still am to certain degrees, found it necessary to write this. I hope some Porsche executive in Germany reads this and realizes that in their biggest market U.S.A. Porsche is truly loosing grounds. Sure there is always a first time buyer that always wanted to have a Porsche such as most Cayenne owners but the long time admirers are mostly switching teams with such fantastic options for sports cars out there nowadays. The market and the attitude may be different in Europe in particular in Germany, but they should know it doesn’t apply to other countries. To give you an example, in the U.S. you want to show off your good-looking sports cars to neighbors and friends and you actually get respect for it, however in Europe you may create enemies. Porsche needs to learn their markets more thoroughly and not rip off people for so much money on ridiculous options where they should be standard. Porsche may be rich and have a lot of cash in hand but that’s not the sign of success.