Of course this is smart marketing. There is a reason why Porsche is the most profitable car manufacturer in the world (compared to how many cars they sell).
I think I read today that stock analysts recommend to "keep" the Porsche stocks, not to sell them.
Porsche will have two problems in the future:
1. the clever exchange rate "insurance deals" expire around 2007. Porsche can only hope that the US Dollar gets stronger or the Euro gets weaker. Or both.
Otherwise this could mean a price increase, especially for USD controlled markets.
2. VW: the VW deal costs Porsche almost all the money they earned in the past, all their saved stuff is gone. And it may cost them even more if Porsche will buy another small bite of VW. Meaning: their current models and all future models have to be a success.
3. the Panamera enters a tough market. Why tough? Simple. A lot of BMW 7-series, Audi 8-series and Mercedes S-class buyers are buying...DIESEL versions, especially in Germany, the second important market to Porsche after the US.
Another problem is also the fact that a lot of luxury limousines buyers drive these cars because they're not too flashy, even if the have over 400 HP under the hood or if they cost as much as a 911 or more. This need for "understatement", especially appreciated in Germany, the country where people remove the S600 sticker on their S-class to replace it with a S320 sticker or whatever, may not be served by the Panamera.
4. The competition is getting stronger and stronger, their products are highly a attractive, usually at much lower prices. People still want quality but they don't want to pay a fortune for it. I'm afraid the "rip them customers off with options" strategy won't work for any time longer, people start to be aware that they're paying too much for extras.
If Porsche wants to survive, they have to be different than the others. But at the same time, they have to offer better quality than the others. Not easy.
The next 24 months will tell us if Wiedeking made the right decisions or not. And I truely hope that the VW deal was mostly driven by brains, not the only desire of Mr. Piech to put his hands on VW.
BTW, Nick: why didn't Ferrari start to sell stocks like they planned a while ago?
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