Crown

From Bloomberg: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-28/porsche-nine-month-profit-rises-25-on-demand-for-cayenne.html

Some excerpts:

Cayenne sales surged 74 percent to 43,924 vehicles, while the Panamera four-door coupe increased 6 percent to 18,750 cars.

The Porsche unit, which relies on the Cayenne for half of deliveries, plans to increase production of its best-selling model by 10 percent to 20 percent starting in January. Demand for the SUV, which includes a Turbo version costing 121,000 euros, led to waiting lists as long as 12 months in markets including China.

Porsche’s model lineup will be expanded to include a compact SUV by 2013. In the same year, the company will add a limited series of the 918 Spyder hybrid, a 500-horsepower vehicle with a V8 engine and electric motors that has a top speed of 320 kilometers per hour (200 mph).

I don't understand the Cayenne success. If the car was branded as a Chevolet it would be a failure. The Porsche brand really has carried this car. After owning one for a few years, I was not impressed especially when you consider the price. 

Good thing I did not go into automobile marketing.

nberry:

I don't understand the Cayenne success. If the car was branded as a Chevolet it would be a failure. The Porsche brand really has carried this car. After owning one for a few years, I was not impressed especially when you consider the price. 

Good thing I did not go into automobile marketing.

We're all glad you maintained your integrity by becoming a lawyer instead, Nick . 

fritz

Well,i'm really happy with the Cayenne TT and i understand why it sell so good!

Is a great car,no dubt!

Nick take one you too!

997TT RS Tuning stage II,2011 Cayenne Turbo

nberry:

After owning one for a few years, I was not impressed especially when you consider the price. 

Try the new modell 

2012 Cayenne S White/Espresso 

Ex: 993 Targa, 986S, 986 and 964 C2

The Cayenne has been a huge sales hit since its introduction some 10 years ago. Such enduring success is not a simple matter of brand snobbery, as some people like to suggest.

Consumers are no suckers to be fooled for so long. The product must be very sound in itself, which obviously is the case.

"Form follows function"

For smoother riding and suspension versatility someone can get the air suspension option.

"Form follows function"

fritz:

nberry:

I don't understand the Cayenne success. If the car was branded as a Chevolet it would be a failure. The Porsche brand really has carried this car. After owning one for a few years, I was not impressed especially when you consider the price. 

Good thing I did not go into automobile marketing.

We're all glad you maintained your integrity by becoming a lawyer instead, Nick . 

 

 

 

 

nberry:

I don't understand the Cayenne success. If the car was branded as a Chevolet it would be a failure. The Porsche brand really has carried this car. After owning one for a few years, I was not impressed especially when you consider the price. 

I think its a matter of you can't please everyone, you had a lot of issues with it so that may have affected your opinion as well. Like reginos said, you can't be succesfull for that long and growing, and not in face of the strong and good competition it has, if its not a good SUV, also you could not fool the press either. For me the Cayenne is the best SUV simply because it caters to the sportier driver the best, with great handling, dinamics, performance, etc.

reginos:

For smoother riding and suspension versatility someone can get the air suspension option.

the proof is in the puding,the numbers (including a higher price number) speak for themselves....

the new Cayenne turbo as opposed to the previous generation model is so superior on most levels than any other suv offered on the market that this is how you get to the current sales/price waiting list situation,car has been on the market for 2 years now so no early adopters/novelty motivated artificial sales figures- just consumer benefit recognition reality

A fully optioned Cayenne turbo is very hard to default or compete against by any of the competition and that include imo many sporty 4 doors cars

nberry:

I don't understand the Cayenne success. If the car was branded as a Chevolet it would be a failure. The Porsche brand really has carried this car. 

That's just it. It is successful because some people, like yourself, only bought it because it was a Porsche, not a Chevy. 

JP66:

nberry:

I don't understand the Cayenne success. If the car was branded as a Chevolet it would be a failure. The Porsche brand really has carried this car. 

 

That's just it. It is successful because some people, like yourself, only bought it because it was a Porsche, not a Chevy. 

I think you need to qualify that:

1. Some people buy it because it doesn't bear the Chevrolet badge.

2. Other people buy it because it doesn't drive anything like a Chevy.

The sum of those two groups has resulted in the Cayenne selling well ever since it was introduced.

fritz

Super Darius:

Well,i'm really happy with the Cayenne TT and i understand why it sell so good!

Is a great car,no dubt!

Nick take one you too!

Nick's mind is still stuck in 2003/2004 ala the 1st gen Cayenne and has no idea what Porsche has done to the 2011 CTT

CS owners can get a sport exhaust system which sounds very nasty

And +1 on being happy with the Cayenne, mine got a software update and my engine stopped burning oil

The KN is the reason we are all still able to buy new 911's.  It is a massive success and pays for everything else. Respect to the management team at Porsche for calling it right - if the enthusiasts had been in charge, Porsche would have gone bankrupt 10 years ago and we would have been deprived of all the fantastic GT cars the KN has paid for.

Dont give up your day job certain RT members, best stick to what you're good at and keep writing the cheques...There are obviously many successful members on here who clearly make the $$$ but it still astounds me how clueless they are around the motor industry.  All gets lost in rose coloured fanboy nonsense. Porsche are running a business FFS, not a museum !!!

GT3ZZZ:

Porsche are running a business FFS, not a museum !!!

I like this quote! I will use it myself, if it is not copywritten

"Form follows function"

Let me defend myself. I buy a SUV for utility, safety and economy. No doubt later generations of Cayennes are better but better as to what? MY HOnda CR-V does everything the Cayenne does and at a much cheaper price point. It has leather seats, seats as many as a Cayenne, the same if not more cargo space, gets almost three times the miles per gallon and cost 2/3 less than a Cayenne. I have owned the car for 1 1/2 years without any problems and should I decide to sell it it has a terrific resale value. MY wife a true Porschephile commented just two days ago how much she preferred the Honda over the Cayenne. Coming from her is telling.

What the Cayenne has is power and road performance over the CR-V. I can understand the power issue but who in the hell cares about road performance in a SUV? That is just nuts. The SUV is a utlility car which also serves as a family vehicle. I cannot imagine a father/mother taking his/her family shopping or wherever speeding into curves and getting their jollies off.

No the reason why the Cayenne is are selling well is brand snobbery. Economically the car does not make any sense. AND to add injury to insult, people are buying the Cayenne TT. WTF!!!!

According to your argument a 997TT in La Jolla would make even less sense, since you cannot drive it any differently than a Mustang. Your problem Nick is that you view everything exclusively from your personal point of view (which is a respectable one) and apply it to everyone else's situation. Not everyone uses the Cayenne for the same thing, not everyone drives on the same roads, not everyone has the same driving style, not everyone has the same needs and tastes, etc. I just did a 200mile work related highway trip on a family's CayenneS today, would the trip have been as "pleasurable, effcicient, and swift" for me  as on a Honda CR-V?... not even remotely close. Economically worth every penny its worth, and thank goodness the germans and not only the japanese and french make SUVs...

--

Carlos, big difference between buying a sport car and a SUV. The TT makes a lot of sense because there are many roads which the car can be used safely and with spirit. Your 200 mile ride would have been the same in the Honda except the Honda would have had a better ride and with considerably less gas expended.

nberry:

Carlos, big difference between buying a sport car and a SUV. The TT makes a lot of sense because there are many roads which the car can be used safely and with spirit. Your 200 mile ride would have been the same in the Honda except the Honda would have had a better ride and with considerably less gas expended.

Sure, and a Mustang would have been the same for you on those may roads and for cheaper  You are telling ME that the trip would have been the same on a Honda than a Cayenne? that is what  was refering to about applying your point of view to everybody else. I have driven other vehicles in simlar trips, NOT THE SAME. Why do you think my 997S has +80k miles?

You definition of confortable ride may be a Honda SUV ride, to me a confortable ride is one were the cabin doesn't roll in the weight transfers like a citroen, with a steering with feedback that tells me what the vehicle is doing at every moment, an engine that allows effortless and efficient changes in speed as my foot comands, and that allows for confortable cruising speeds without sounding like a four pot that its going to cough a piston at that rate, with powerfull and resistant brakes at my disposal, etc.

I'm not saying that it should be like that for eveybody, or you in particular, I respect your point of view and preferences for you and that the Honda may be the better choice for your needs and use, but its just that there are different needs, preferences, circumstances, etc out there, that is why there is a reason for high performance german SUV over a japaneese or french one in many cases, just like there is a reason for high performance sportcars and high performance saloons, beyond just brand image 

--

CRV's suspension is tuned like a waterbed, it will roll and rock like there is no tomorrow. Driving the CRV on a same road trip as a Cayenne spiritedly would make the passengers puke their brains out from car sickness. Not to mention the danger of passing with a under powered car. Passing that takes a couple seconds in a Cayenne would take at least twice as long, on a single lane undivided road that's enternity.

hugo:

the proof is in the puding,the numbers (including a higher price number) speak for themselves....

the new Cayenne turbo as opposed to the previous generation model is so superior on most levels than any other suv offered on the market that this is how you get to the current sales/price waiting list situation,car has been on the market for 2 years now so no early adopters/novelty motivated artificial sales figures- just consumer benefit recognition reality

A fully optioned Cayenne turbo is very hard to default or compete against by any of the competition and that include imo many sporty 4 doors cars

Including the Panamera Turbo?

Panamera Turbo maybe faster than a Cayenne Turbo, but by how much? 10%? The Cayenne Turbo in turn is quite a bit more useful than the Panamera at 90% of the performance and a bit less in price,  one more seat, much bigger cargo capacity, etc.

There are various reasons for choosing SUV over an equvalent sedan, primany reason being more interior room for humans and cargo. SUV is also superior to wagons in that the driver and passengers sit higher and can see farther down the road, a very good safety feature.

Not everyone can have multiple cars, Cayenne Turbo may not excel in any one thing, but it is quite good enough in everything to be a best case compromise.

Ziggy:

hugo:

the proof is in the puding,the numbers (including a higher price number) speak for themselves....

the new Cayenne turbo as opposed to the previous generation model is so superior on most levels than any other suv offered on the market that this is how you get to the current sales/price waiting list situation,car has been on the market for 2 years now so no early adopters/novelty motivated artificial sales figures- just consumer benefit recognition reality

A fully optioned Cayenne turbo is very hard to default or compete against by any of the competition and that include imo many sporty 4 doors cars

Including the Panamera Turbo?

ultimately yes....

I have to say I'm somewhat sympathetic to my man Nick on this one, which is to say I can't see spending big bucks on a "grocery getter," which is what an SUV is to me. Mostly my wife drives it anyway, and she doesn't care that much. So, in my mind, a Cayenne is a lot of money for not much benefit. 

A 200 mile round trip on fast highways? Sure, I'd rather drive the Cayenne than the Honda. But would I want to pay that much more money for something to haul stuff around? Not really.

Obviously this is very subjective and is based on the fact that this household doesn't have unlimited bucks in the bank. So more money on an SUV is less money on a 911. Call me crazy but I'd rather downgrade on the grocery getter side and upgrade to a GTS or GT3 on the 911 side.

Don't get me wrong, the Cayenne is great. I've done some serious seat time in a friend's, including autobahn speed highway miles and rock crawling in the desert. For that, nothing beats it. But if money was no object, I think I would just as soon have another Range Rover. Because that's the vehicle I buy to carry stuff, not to do performance driving in.

Currently the car filling that niche in our household is a VW Touareg V6 with all-wheel drive. It won't do 150 mph on West Texas roads but it will go off-roading over mountain passes very well and is great around the village and into the city. My wife loves it and the additional performance of a Cayenne would be missed by her. But the additional cost wouldn't.

YMMV, but that's how it is for me. And me mate Nick, too. 

--

"I don't mean to brag, but I am really good at self-deprecation."

Carrageous,

you certainly have a point here but you should not forget that the Touareg shares chassis and suspension with the Cayenne. From a monetary standpoint it is also much closer to the Cayenne than a Honda CR-V.

The thing with our dear friend Nick, and I would miss his contributions here on the forum, is that he tries to find justifiable reasons for his decision after the purchase. Therefore he tries to argue that the Honda´s shortcomings are insignificant because of today´s traffic. He has an epiphany and buys the Porsche Turbo because his wife drags him to the dealer... It´s not that these points are invalid, I just don´t believe that those are the driving force of Nick´s buying decisions.

I made a very conscious decision NOT to replace my Cayenne with another Cayenne because I really did not see ANY value in it compared to Other SUV's. Once I drove th Honda, I knew immediately it was the car for me. It is comfortable, priced right, economical on gas and had an excellent ride. Of course it did not thave the power of the Cayenne but I asked myself do I need it in a UTILITY vehicle and willing to pay almost $50,000 more for it? My decison was a no brainer; Honda all the way.

Regarding the Turbo, I admit that my wife was the driving force in that purchase. Had it been me I would not have bought the car. That said, I am not sorry I bought it. It is a terrific sport car so much so I have already advised my dealer to call me once they can started taking orders on the 991 TT.

I know my comments may not sit well with some of our Greman friends that may be directly or indirectly associated with Porsche but I call it as I see it. Porsche certainly will not lose any sleep over my opinion regarding their profitable Cayenne.

--

nberry:

Regarding the Turbo, I admit that my wife was the driving force in that purchase. Had it been me I would not have bought the car. That said, I am not sorry I bought it. It is a terrific sport car so much so I have already advised my dealer to call me once they can started taking orders on the 991 TT.

You're are a wise man!

2005 997S Blk/Blk