Although many were quick to put Porsche in the crosshairs when it decided to built a sport-utility vehicle then a four-door sedan/coupe, those two vehicles -- the Cayenne and Panamera -- are keeping the storied marque afloat.
As we can see down below, the Cayenne sold over 21,000 units in three months while the Panamera moved nearly 5,800 units. That's pretty solid results considering their lofty price tags.
I can already hear users saying now "Of course the Panmera's growth rate is huge, the car didn't exist last year!" Touche. But, keep in mind if the Panamera didn't exist that approximate 5,800 sales wouldn't be on Porsche's chart.
Now that we can take a look at these two leviathan autos and appreciate what they have done for Porsche, can purists put their differences aside and accept that in order to build cars like the 911, volume players like the Cayenne and Panamera need to be sold?
Even in this harsh economical climate, Porsche sales continue to grow, as the German maker shifted 21,218 units in the first three months of the 2010 short fiscal year (August 1 – December 31). That's an impressive 86.4% growth compared to the same period last year, although Porsche management admits that the prior-year quarter was "relatively weak", so a higher growth rate was expected...
...The new Cayenne fared particularly well with 10,292 units sold (+151%), followed by the Panamera with 5,778 vehicles and a growth rate of 94%. The success of the 4-door coupe is due to the fact that last year it wasn't available on all markets and the six-cylinder model went on sale in May 2010. The 911's sales were also up, reaching 3,130 units (+20.4%), while the Boxster with 1,089 and Cayman with 929 vehicles remained the least coveted Porsches...
[Source: Carscoop]
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