reginos:
With all due respect to BMW, their models are rather ordinary next to Porsche. People are willing to pay more for the best, especially since BMW are not exactly in the value for money category.
in theory their M cars should have killed the 911, and top of the range Panamera and Cayenne. Which is not the case of course. Buyers are either too stupid or know something that cannot be conveyed in just specification figures.
I think you are wrong. A lot of buyers are value oriented, even if they have money to spend for more expensive cars.
A Cayenne or a Panamera isn't really the Porsche, it is a Porsche. These models are fine models, no question about it but they are not cars which are not really replaceable like the icon 911. I think the latest Sport Auto comparison between a 991 Carrera (not "S") and the new BMW M6 makes a point.
So yes, if people aren't shopping for an icon or something extremely special, the M GmbH comes into play. When I chose the X5M over the Cayenne Turbo, it was for a reason: Cost. The difference was high enough to make me go for the X5M instead. Both cars have similar performance. While the Panamera Turbo S seems to easily outrun the new BMW M5 on the Nordschleife, the difference is more than 10 seconds as far as I remember, in real life, the performance difference may only matter in a stoplight run.
Would you really pay 80k EUR more for a better track performance on a sedan? With AWD, the new M5 would surely hit 0-100 kph in 3.6-.3.8 seconds, similar to the Panamera Turbo S.
Again...we are talking about 80k EUR, not 8k EUR. Yes, the Panamera is more special but for me, this is actually more of a problem because it attracts much more attention than I need or want.
Porsche needs to start to be more superior than the competition in the future. Remember the first Cayenne Turbo, it wiped out the ML55 AMG competition. Remember the first 993 Turbo, it wiped out even exotics as competitors.
Porsche needs to give the customer more for the money. Much more. The new 991 Turbo has been rumored at 560 hp. This would be sensational if true. It would also be a good start for a new superiority of Porsche. A power increase alone won't do the job but the new tri-turbo technology in conjunction with improvements here and there will make the difference. Porsche needs to keep the competition at a distance and if they want to hit Ferrari with a new model between the current 911 Turbo and the 918, they need to do a very good job. Just being equal or slightly better won't cut it.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche Panamera Turbo S, BMW X5M, Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe PP/DP, Mini Cooper S Countryman All4
