RC:
Whoopsy:
 

Porsche knows their clients' demographic well, they treated US dealers like royalties, they will turn a blind eye to whatever they do. They will just be the bad apples among their faithful clients. For the other 91% of 918 owners who got an R, they also bought the RS, the GT4 and countless other Porsche cars, future and present,, it's a bet Porsche made and paid off well.

True but they still make more money with their Cayenne and Macans. Smiley Why? Because they appeal to a "broader" customer base.

"Normal' customers can bitch all they want, but they are not the ones that buy 4-6 Porsche's a year, they buy one every 4 years or something. I guess I could be counted as a typical high end Porache customer, after the 918 I bought the RS, I skipped the GT4 but I bought the GT4 ClubSport, I also have an R coming, a Cayenne Turbo S arriving in Sept, deposit down for the next GT3, the next Panamera Turbo S, and the Misson E. That's 6 cars right there after the 918.

The truth hurts.

No, I get that. However, I think that they would sell more cars without this strategy, believe it or not.

In the past, many "ordinary" Porsche customers were owning a 911 as a fun car and a Cayenne as the family SUV. Maybe even a Boxster on top for the wife. This has changed a lot over the past couple of years. Many "ordinary" Porsche customers cannot afford anymore to own both, so they started to choose one Porsche. I do not want to know how many customers Porsche lost because their cars are less affordable now and maybe because they even lack certain products (like that 960 I mentioned, a 6 series/S class Coupe competitor or a just more affordable SUVs). 

I understand your view of things but you are not the typical Porsche customer, you are a VIP customer. How many VIP customers are out there? Even if each of them would buy six cars each year, which I highly doubt, they do not come even close to what "ordinary" Porsche customers spend in total with the brand every year and you know that.

Just look in this forum: Many people who love Porsche buy other brands as well...or instead. I agree, Porsche knows their customers well but maybe not well enough. Once they are gone, they may not come back and this is a serious problem, one they may not see right now but it will come up later on. The competition isn't sleeping either.

The car industry is getting more narrow. It is not enough anymore just to sell the myth and brand. Most cars are offering similar systems and assistants from same vendors. What happened:

  1. In the Sports Cars segment, firms like McLaren or Audi could start from scratch building a completely new sports car with enormous performance. Even Ferrari is overthinking each generation and starting on a new platform is necessary. Porsche is still sticking to the original layout like the last 50 years. On top of it, the car was getting as comfy as a luxury sedan. What it would need is a new layout as successor to the 911. A car based on the 918 concept with a higher production volume and lower price. 
  2. In the SUV/Sedan area - Porsche is light years behind. Many advanced assistants and technology you can find in its competitors you can't find at Porsche. Even the new Panamera still doesnt offer a head up display and the lane assistant is not an semi-autonomy assistant like we now it form the E-Class, S-Class, Volvo or Tesla, it is still the same system you find in a VW Golf. There are many other things where Porsche is just a generation behind. What it would need is to be trend setter and innovation leader. I can't see it.