Michael Mauer’s success as an automotive designer was once again showcased when it was announced that Porsche has won the prestigious “red dot award: product design 2012″for the Porsche 911 Carrera. A panel of 30 international experts found the Porsche’s “unique design language”combined innovation and tradition, power and elegance into a functional and unique design more so than over 4500 other product designs from 58 countries. If you can’t see the video below in your email you can view it directly on our site by clicking on Video of Michael Mauer Explaining the Design of the Porsche 991.
“With our Style Porsche design process, we ensure that a Porsche 911 evolves in terms of its appearance, while remaining recognizably a 911. At Porsche we use two concepts to achieve this: brand identity and product identity. Brand identity means that a Porsche has to be recognizable as a Porsche at first glance and product identity means that it is immediately apparent which Porsche it is. The design DNA of our products is our most important asset – which is precisely why we are constantly questioning and developing it.”
Integral to the Porsche design DNA in the case of the 911 are elements like the steeply rear-sloping roof line, the flat, stretched silhouette, exciting surfaces, the air intake instead of a radiator grille, a downward tapering rear window, pronounced shoulders, the visible tailpipes, and of course the ignition, which has always been on the left of the steering wheel in a Porsche. What Porsche is demonstrating yet again with the 911 Carrera is that outstanding design quality is more than just look and feel and functionality – the design’s unmistakable identity makes it the ambassador of the sports car brand.
Additionally, this prize pays tribute to the life’s work and achievements of Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who died in Salzburg on 5 April 2012 at the age of 76. As the creator of the Porsche 911, he established a design culture at Porsche that has shaped the Stuttgart sports cars to this very day. His philosophy of good design is an important legacy that the company will continue to honor for all time. His credo was: “A coherently designed product needs no adornment;it should be enhanced by its form alone. Good design should be honest.” Porsche designers profess this conviction to this very day.
Porsche reported a strong start to 2012. Delivered/sold units increased 29% to 30,231 vehicles. Revenue is up 32.4% to 3.025 billion euro and operating profit rose to 528 million euro representing an 18.4% increase from the same period last year. Looking to continue this growth Porsche added 725 new employees bringing their total worldwide workforce to16,032 as of March 31st, 2012.
“Behind these extremely gratifying figures is a clearly defined line: we focus systematically on solid, sustainable and high-quality growth,” said Matthias Müller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Porsche AG. “The youngest and most efficient model range of all time gives us an outstanding platform on which to sustain this course throughout 2012,” Müller said.
It should come as no surprise that sales of the new 911 increased by 37.6% considering the 997 model was on the way out and folks were waiting for the 991.
Porsche’s Ambitious Goals for 2018
Porsche has set itself ambitious business targets with “Strategy 2018”: with an operating return on sales of at least 15 per cent and a return on capital of at least 21 per cent the aim is for the company to remain one of the world’s most profitable car manufacturers. Porsche thrills its customers with unique products and an outstanding purchase and ownership experience. Moreover, the sports car manufacturer is a much sought-after international employer and a fair and reliable partner for all stakeholders. The intention is to boost sales to approximately 200,000 vehicles by 2018. To that end, Porsche is investing in rejuvenating and expanding the entire model range. In 2011, the new edition of the Porsche 911 got the process underway. This will be followed in 2012 with the all-new Boxster and by the new Cayman. The introduction of the Macan urban SUV, to be built in the Leipzig plant, is to provide additional impetus from 2014 onwards.
Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), importer and distributor of Porsche sports cars, Cayenne SUVs and the Panamera four-door sports sedan line-up in the United States, today announced April 2012 sales of 3,437 vehicles. This compares to 3,172 vehicles last April, for an increase of four percent. For the year, Porsche sold 10,596 cars in the U.S., which is a four percent increase over last year’s sales of 10,179.
“April 2012 sales resulted in a record April for PCNA and shows the momentum building for our new, seventh-generation 911,”said President and CEO, Detlev von Platen. “We are thrilled with the overall progress as we only sold the first new 911 Carrera Cabriolets in April and are looking forward to our highly anticipated third-generation Boxster arriving in Porsche dealerships the beginning of July.”
With 1090 sales of the new 911, the evergreen sports car showed a 69 percent increase over April 2011. Panamera sales were up 45 percent with 868 cars sold. Porsche sold 1,376 Cayenne models, a decrease of 13% over the same period last year.
For the month of April 2012, Porsche’s Approved Certified Pre-Owned vehicle sales were 791, compared to 779 last year – a 1.5 percent increase. Year-to-date, Porsche’s CPO sales are up 9.1 percent (3,174 vs. 2,907).
This past weekend women’s tennis #2 ranked player, Maria Sharapova, triumphed over Victoria Azarenka (ranked #1 in the world) at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. Sharapova dominated the match winning 6-1, 6-4 in two straight sets. Her win is rewarded with $115,000 in prize money and a new Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. (Feel free to visit Pictures from Maria Sharapova’s Win at the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to view the pictures in our lightbox Gallery).
Hot on the heals of two being awarded the coolest brand and best performance brand from Kelly Blue Book, Porsche beat out the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 and the McLaren MP4-12C to be named the World Performance Car at a press conference hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and the New York International Auto Show.
Candidates for the World Performance Car award must demonstrate a specific and overt sports/performance orientation while satisfying the same availability criteria as for the overall World Car of the Year award. Candidates may be chosen from the World Car of the Year list of eligible vehicles, or they may be newly introduced variants that satisfy the same criteria, but are derived from existing rather than brand-new models. In all cases, they must have a minimum annual production rate of five-hundred (500) vehicles.
This is the sixth out of seven times that Porsche has made it to the top three position in the World Performance Car category and this time round makes it Porsche’s fourth consecutive time. The Porsche Cayman S had the honor of winning the inaugural award in 2006.
Earlier today, Kelley Blue Book, a leading provider of new-and used-car information, announced Porsche as the winner of two 2012 Brand Image Awards: the Coolest Brand and Best Performance Brand, something we as Porsche fans already new.
The awards are based on data collected by Kelley Blue Book in their Brand WatchTM study hosted on kbb.com. Using data from more than 12,000 shoppers, the Brand Watch study analyzes brand perceptions held by new car shoppers and the factors that influence their decision to buy.
“We hold these awards in high esteem,” said Detlev von Platen, president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America. “Since they are based solely on consumer perspectives and backed by a trusted source like Kelley Blue Book, receiving not only one, but two 2012 Brand Image Awards is one of the most rewarding ways to receive brand accolades and recognition.”
This isn’t the first dance for Porsche
Kelly Blue Book has given these awards for five years now and this is the second time that Porsche has won the Coolest Brand and Best Performance Brand categories (they last won in 2010, the same year Porsche was also voted as the luxury brand with the Best Exterior Design).
While year to date sales for Porsche Cars North America have increased 2% over the same period last year (helped mainly by a strong month of sales in February), March sales have dropped by 128 units to 2,460 vehicles. This represents a 5% decline in overall deliveries. President and CEO, Detlev von Platen notes that low inventory at PCNA dealers is the main reason for this slow down.
March 2012 Sales Figures for Porsche Cars North America
“We are pleased with our March results, even though they are down slightly from last year, because we are in the midst of the launch of two all-new model lines,” said President and CEO, Detlev von Platen. “The new 911 Coupe just went on sale in February and the Cabriolet will be in our dealers’ showrooms this month – and we are debuting the all-new Boxster this week at the New York Auto Show. We are keeping up with last year’s pace, even as our dealer inventories are extremely low due to these model line changes.”
Cayenne sales continue to show strength with a 20% increase over last year to 1,255 deliveries. Panamera sales were nearly exactly the same as last year at 653 cars.
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