Remember the headline, “Porsche’s Profit Exceeds Revenue”? After reading it we wondered if 2 + 2 still equaled 4. After-all, how can a company’s profits be greater than their revenue? Did the basic rules of business math not apply to Porsche?
Back then, we did some research and answered readers questions about Porsche’s finances and their attempt to purchase VW as best we could with this post, “An Idiot’s Guide to Porsche’s Financial Troubles”. Not too long after this there were rumors of possible market manipulation by Porsche that quickly materialized into real-life law suits with the German sports car maker as defendant. Apparently, over the course of two days in 2008, Porsche’s bid to take over the much larger VW caused Volkswagen shares to soar – briefly making it the most valuable company in the world – resulting in billions and billions in losses for the hedge funds that were shorting VW at the time.
CNBC Investigates Porsche
This coming February 16th, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (and then again at 12:00 a.m.), CNBC will air “Fast Bucks: How Porsche Made Billions”. The 30 minute show promises an “investigates allegations that the iconic automaker manipulated the market in an all-out bid to acquire its rival”. Be sure to set your DVD! I know I will.
This special 100,000th Cayenne, resplendent in “pure white”, is being delivered to a customer in Brazil complete with a V8 engine (the 250,000th first generation Cayenne was also done in white, but was of the diesel variety).
Strong Demand for Porsche Cayenne and Panamera Spurs Expansion
“Ten years ago the success story of Porsche Leipzig startet. What was a greenfield site, today ranks among the most modern car plants in the world. In addition to the Cayenne, Leipzig is also where Porsche produces the very successful Panamera luxury saloon, approximately 70,000 units of which have now rolled off the production line. That is why more than 93,800 vehicles left the Porsche plant in Leipzig in 2011, more than in any year before”, says Wolfgang Leimgruber, Member of the Executive Board of Production and Logistics of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. “Because of the consistently high demand for the Cayenne and Panamera we will be introducing a third production shift in Leipzig at the end of January. With the new production sequence, 500 vehicles on average will be produced each day,” Leimgruber adds.
The introduction of a three shift operation is only one of many challenges in the near future. Building work for a major expansion of the plant is currently underway. A paint shop and body assembly line for an entirely new model line that will start to come off the Leipzig production line from the end of 2013 onward are among the facilities being built on a 17 hectare site. Porsche is investing a total of 500 million euro in the production site in Saxony for assembly of the Cajun, creating more than 1,000 new jobs.
Siegfried Bülow, President and Chief Executive Officer, explains:
“2012 will therefore be an eventful and exciting year in many respects. We are welcoming many new employees, holding topping-out ceremonies on the new site, celebrating the 500,000th Porsche “Made in Leipzig” and last but not least the tenth production anniversary.”
Since 1966 the University of Salzburg conveys the title of “honorary senator” on major business, political and social figures “who play a particulary distinguished role in supporting the University of Salzburg and promoting its scientific and cultural work.”
This year, the honor goes to Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG and Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
“Dr. Porsche’s selfless contribution benefits the entire education system while at the same time signalling his close connection with the city and state of Salzburg,” said Prof. Dr. Heinrich Schmidinger, rector of the University of Salzburg in his laudatory address.
As part of his acceptance speech, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche gave thanks and gratitude for this great honor
“I thank the entire Senate from the bottom of my heart for this special honour, aware as I am of its significance and the obligations that attend it. In the course of my life I have become increasingly aware of the enormous value of education and knowledge in our society. There is no wiser investment than in the promotion of education.”
Recession. What Recession? At least that’s what Porsche’s saying these days. With a 22% increase in overall sales from 2010, Porsche delivered 118,867 vehicles to their customers. Given that their target was 100,000 units for the year, I’m thinking bonuses all around.
A Record Year for Porsche
“With sports car sales of just less than 120,000, 2011 was a record year for Porsche,” said Matthias Müller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Porsche AG. “We are planning to continue growing in 2012 as well. The new 911 generation will galvanise the market.”
Porsche Sales Strong in all Regions
In 2011, Porsche sold more vehicles than the year before in all sales regions. Asia takes the top slot with 42,971 units delivered (+44%). While the Chinese market posted the biggest growth at +64.6%.
The most successful single market in 2011 was the USA: a total of 29,023 customers in the United States opted for a model from Porsche ( an increase of 14.6 %). In Porsche’s home market of Germany the 911, Cayenne, Panamera, Boxster and Cayman sports cars were very popular, selling 14,959 units (+13.2 %).
As with previous years, the model with the highest world wide demand in 2011 was the Cayenne, of which 59,897 were handed over to customers. With sales of the Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo totaling 18,126 units, Porsche defended its leading position in the high-performance, off-road vehicle segment.
Ever since Porsche announced their contest inviting independent film makers to submit their depiction of how Porsche’s fit their slogan “Porsche Everyday” we’ve been waiting to see who the winner would be. Porsche quietly uploaded the winner in mid-December and we shared the news on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, Michael Korbel’s winning video (shown above) chronicle the life of a Porsche 911 owner through the eyes of their Porsche. In addition to Korbel’s winning entry, two other finalist films are showcased on YouTube (“Sweet Dreams” and “The Ride“). Personally, I like “The Ride” the best, but I can see why Porsche chose “It’s a Magical Life“.
For even more fun, videos, testimonials and information, take a look at the Porsche Everday website.
Porsche announced sales numbers today for December 2011 and the calendar year. December sales came in at 1,834 while year to date (YTD) sales rose to 29,023 from 25,320 Porsches sold in 2010 – a 15% increase.
“2011 represents a very positive step forward for Porsche and demonstrates the brand’s continued strength in the United States market,” said Detlev von Platen, PCNA’s President and CEO. “We are confident we will build on this momentum moving forward into the new year with the launch of the 7th generation 911, a new Boxster and several other new products.”
Porsche sales success strongly tied to the Cayenne
Much of Porsche’s 2011 sales success can be attributed to the continuing momentum of the Cayenne SUV. Sales of the Cayenne in the U.S. were 12,978 in 2011 compared to 8,343 in 2010 – a 56 percent increase.
Another highlight for Porsche last year was the continued success of the 911. With the all-new 911 Carrera and Carrera S due to go on sale in the United States February 4, 2012, sales of current models continue to be strong. Annual sales in 2011 were 6,016 compared to 5,735 in 2010, an increase of 5 percent.
CPO sales number on the rise too
Also in December, sales of Porsche’s Approved Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles rose to 538 versus 533 during the same period in 2010. CPO total sales in 2011 were 8,323 compared to 7,298 in 2010.
To close out 2011, and make way for 2012, we looked back at our statistics to see just what topics interested you this year. We compiled our list from information about posts read via email and those read on our site.
Some of this year’s top 10 posts shouldn’t be a surprise, others seem to be perennial favorites. Some even took us by surprise with how many times they were read. We hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year’s celebration and we look forward to sending you more Porsche goodness in 2012.
We have more than 1000 posts on our site, so if you’re new to us in the last year or two, be sure to visit and look through our archives. You never know what you might find!
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