Quote:
nberry said:
This study is not very complimentary regarding Porsche. It is now being compared with mass producers of automobiles. Thus it is no longer a specialized or boutique car manufacturer. Also, note the the truly elite brands were not included in the survey. It only confirms what have I believed Porsche. Porsche is now a mainstream (Ford, Saturn, etc.) car. 
The final insult to Porsche is that despite MB horrible reputation in the industry for quality, exclusivity, mass production and being part of Chrysler, it still rated higher than Porsche. If I were Porsche management, I would be falling on my sword. 
I think there is no arguing Porsche's biz strategy has been to extend the brand in an effort to be a more complete and larger car manufacturer. There is also no arguing that Porsche is putting a primary emphasis on these new (poseur) type customers. According to that survey and their sick profits, they appear to be succeeding in that goal. That said, the GT3, GT2 and Carrera GT (each considerably more exclusive than Ferraris offerings with the exception of the Enzo) products more than adequately serve the enthusiast which made Porsche's survival possible. As long as they continue offering enthusiast models, it's hard to bitch about their products. However, with the increase in production and models, their build quality (or at least R&D) has declined (withness the POS Cayenne). Oh how I wish they would adopt a Lexus service goal. I'd like nothing more than to be loyal to one brand and deal with the same service and sales guys/girls every time I have a need to. But, the Cayenne has soured me mightily on the entire Porsche service experience. Nothing is schittier than having a product that falls short and a service dept that claims problems are "normal" and can't therefore be addressed.
