I can't talk about other countries/regions but in Germany, there are actually two categories of people who are driving a sedan like the 7 series or S class: businessmen or people who need more room for the family.
During the current financial crisis and the touchy people around us, I don't think that businessmen actually would choose the Panamera over the BMW 7 series or Mercedes S class. Look at how many people actually went for a BMW X5 M in Germany, this car sells better than the X6 M for various reasons. People driving such cars want to "blend in", they don't want to attract too much attention.
The Panamera is one of these cars...well...
Regarding "blending in" (a funny story but actually sad): today I had to work til noon. One of my favorite customers (she leaves a lot of money on the shelves ) came in, she is a baroness (real one) and drives a Bentley Continental GT Coupe. Perfect match. When she saw today the Mini Cooper S on my parking lot, she was very surprised and asked me what happened to the Cayenne. I told her that I sold it. Now can you imagine what the dear baroness tells me ? "Oh good god, finally you sold this "stinker", it was an abomination of a Porsche." I was shocked, didn't even know what to say. I actually wanted to tell her that I somehow miss my Cayenne but after these words, I just kept my mouth shut. If somebody like her, driving a Bentley, thinks such a thing, what do you think other people over here think ?
On a more positive side: my daughter cried almost an hour after I left my Cayenne Turbo S at my BMW dealer. Surprisingly, my son, who is actually more into cars, cares only about one thing: is the X5 M faster than our old Cayenne, he asked me. I told him yes. He smiled and didn't cry a tear over the Cayenne. Kids...you never know...
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M (03/2010), BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW