Are US Dealers drowning in Base Macan?

25733 Views 110 Replies 41 Participants Last post by synergize, Oct 14, 2016

trusted

Discussion Starter · Sep 22, 2016

I'm not going to lie, I was never a fan of the introduction of the Base model in the US (and neither was my dealer as far as I can tell).
I feared that it was not going to sell, hurt the brand image and overall resale value of the Macan. What happens when $50K Base owners come in for their first $500 service and oil change? I can see some run screaming for the Audi, BMW or Benz dealerships across the street.
Although I have no hard evidence for the latter it sure as heck looks like Porsche is flooding dealer lots with the Base Macan. I can tell when looking at my local dealers. They usually don't have a lot of cars on the lot but both lately have a couple dozen Base just sitting around.
Finally looking at cars.com and seeing 1,350 new Base listed right now honestly worries me. Compared to 457 S, 375 GTS and 111 Turbo that just seems like an awful lot. Looks like they are not selling as expected by Porsche.

Thoughts anybody?

Reactions: 1

81 - 100 of 111 Posts

Namo

· #81 · Oct 2, 2016

Now Porsche is running a series of youtube video starring Patrick Dempsey with the message Once a race driver Always a race driver...I am curious to see whether Porsche is going to get Patrick Dempsey to drive this base model to attrack the big market.... My question is would Patrick Dempsey drive the base model? That will be interesting to see...

Arnold_T

· #82 · Oct 3, 2016 (Edited)

Patrick Dempsey's way of ... leaving a TV series

Namo said:
Now Porsche is running a series of youtube video starring Patrick Dempsey ...

Patrick Dempsey? hmm. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place him.
But my wife knows him.

Mrs: "You know, he played Dr. "McDreamy", on Grey's Anatomy!"
me: "Oh yeah, that guy. good choice for Porsche spokesperson I guess. hits their target demographic."
Mrs: "Huh, what do you mean?".
me: "uh, you know, race car driver and all."
Mrs: "oh yeah, I forgot about that, yeah I think he still does car racing too"
me: "Hey, didn't his McDreamy character get killed off on Grey's Anatomy?"
Mrs. "That's right, you remember he died in a car accident!"
me: "Oh yeah, distracted driving. Stopped to answer his smart phone, and parked sideways on a highway in front of an oncoming truck. That's too bad."

See less See more

Reactions: 1

Macanuck

· #83 · Oct 3, 2016

Arnold_T said:
Patrick Dempsey? hmm. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place him.
But my wife knows him.

Mrs: "You know, he played Dr. "McDreamy", on Grey's Anatomy!"
me: "Oh yeah, that guy. good choice for Porsche spokesperson I guess. hits their target demographic."
Mrs: "Huh, what do you mean?".
me: "uh, you know, race car driver and all."
Mrs: "oh yeah, I forgot about that, yeah I think he still does car racing too"
me: "Hey, didn't his McDreamy character get killed off on Grey's Anatomy?"
Mrs. "That's right, you remember he died in a car accident!"
me: "Oh yeah, distracted driving. Stopped to answer his smart phone, and parked sideways on a highway in front of an oncoming truck. That's too bad."

Mrs: Wasn't he killed in a Porsche?
me: Oh yeah, a Porsche Cayenne.
Mrs: Not the best brand ambassador story, is it?

Reactions: 1

Arnold_T

· #84 · Oct 3, 2016

Macanuck said:
Mrs: Wasn't he killed in a Porsche?
me: Oh yeah, a Porsche Cayenne.
Mrs: Not the best brand ambassador story, is it?

Exactly. But for my wife, and a lot of buyers, they will just think: "Patrick Dempsey. Sexy. Porsche. Hmm, maybe I should check that out."

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Reactions: 1

Shark

· #85 · Oct 3, 2016

I'm not at all certain the assumption the base model is not selling is correct. The number of base cars sitting on a dealer's lot does not tell you how many have sold. Not only have I seen a number of them on the road already, there are already three of them in the parking lot of the building I work in.

I struck up a conversation with each owner, and it was easy to tell that none of them were enthusiasts. In case they mentioned they were looking at the X3 and Q5 and were surprised how affordable the lease payment for a Porsche could be. Two of the three mentioned very positive on line reviews including Consumer Reports.

Finally, they all said they leased lot cars. Most vehicle buyers don't special order. I'm guessing the Porsche and/or the dealers realized to compete in the base car's target market they need to have a reasonable selection of readily available cars, and that they would not see the level of personalization on the base car as the upper trim levels, and that's why some here think they are seeing dealer lots "flooded" with base cars.

See less See more

Reactions: 5

trusted

Discussion Starter · #86 · Oct 3, 2016

@SharkYou are making good points. In that case we should expect the Base lot # to plateau at a certain level while overall Macan sales stay up. The next couple of months will tell I guess.

Shark

· #87 · Oct 3, 2016

A couple more observations to add.

At least in my area you must see at least 10 4 cylinder X3's and Q5's for each 6 cylinder example. No doubt PCNA and the dealers are aware of that.

Also, the Sales Manager at my dealer said the product planning assumption was that the base car would be the volume seller by a significant margin, and they expect the base and S together to account for the vast majority of sales.

Of course that was the plan and who knows what reality really is. But one would think if the base cars are not moving, the dealers will just start passing on taking additional allocation.

Reactions: 1

Spielzeug

· #88 · Oct 3, 2016

Now I'm starting to regret having the "Macan S" debadged from my car. I liked the cleaner lines of just the "P O R S C H E".

Now it'll look like I'm driving a base instead of a well-optioned S...oh, well. Most people probably still think it's a Cayenne...

Shark

· #89 · Oct 3, 2016

Spielzeug said:
Now I'm starting to regret having the "Macan S" debadged from my car. I liked the cleaner lines of just the "P O R S C H E".

Now it'll look like I'm driving a base instead of a well-optioned S...oh, well. Most people probably still think it's a Cayenne...

No problem, Macan Turbo S badging is readily available for installation

Reactions: 1

trusted

Discussion Starter · #90 · Oct 3, 2016

Shark said:
But one would think if the base cars are not moving, the dealers will just start passing on taking additional allocation.

I wonder how much say the dealer actually has when it comes to allocations.

Shark

· #91 · Oct 3, 2016

trusted said:
I wonder how much say the dealer actually has when it comes to allocations.

I was assuming they would not be forced to purchase inventory they don't want...but that's just an assumption. Anyone have any insight on this?

trusted

Discussion Starter · #92 · Oct 3, 2016

Spielzeug said:
Now I'm starting to regret having the "Macan S" debadged from my car. I liked the cleaner lines of just the "P O R S C H E".
Now it'll look like I'm driving a base instead of a well-optioned S...oh, well. Most people probably still think it's a Cayenne...

A Base optioned like your S is probably more expensive.

Reactions: 1

WHT TGR

· #93 · Oct 3, 2016

trusted said:
A Base optioned like your S is probably more expensive.

Don't worry about what others think. Most important is that you're happy with your non Cayenne

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

Reactions: 4

trusted

Discussion Starter · #94 · Oct 3, 2016

In my limited experience I find that the only people who notice a Macan have a Macan themselves. And I'm OK with that.

Reactions: 5

grim

· #95 · Oct 3, 2016

Shark said:
I was assuming they would not be forced to purchase inventory they don't want...but that's just an assumption. Anyone have any insight on this?

I would not assume this in other direction.

You guys are focusing on one thing only, the base car on one model. A week ago I mentioned everyone is overthinking this. This is SOP. You sell all the more expensive cars you can, then go to the base car, just like in 2006 they released the Cayman S and in 2007 the Base Cayman. I believe they did the same thing for the Panny. You go for the money sales, then fall back to the real sales.

If you don't take lot cars, then I assume its conceivable that other models will not be available to you. Just like the GT4, those that sold more Caymans got greater allocations (as I have heard). The same might be true here. Those that sell more Macans might get some special models in the future.

As to sales, the cars are selling. Its a mistake to think nobody buys the base car. Last time trim levels were reported by PCA, ~ 25% of all 911 sales were base cars. You have to remember this is an "enthusiasts" forum and NOT real life. :| And finally, supposedly PAG did the switchover intentionally moving production into base models. I might assume they did this based upon history. You look at historical sales of the other models and make marketing decisions. Those that don't learn from history .... They make more money per unit than any other car company. You think they might know what they are doing?

As to a lot of "lot cars", well duh, the honeymoon is over. There are always a fair amount of lot cars and since the Macan is the cheapest model, there are bound to be more. They simply make more over 80,000 this year?

Stop worrying about this stuff. It's normal. And for those that think the "base model" devalues you higher trim level car ... please don't go there. Do you think Cayenne owners are worried about the lower priced SUV? C'mon, not cool.

See less See more

Reactions: 5

elau

· #96 · Oct 3, 2016

September Porsche North America sales #s are in:

Porsche Reports September 2016 Retail Sales

Again it unfortunately doesn't break down Macan sales to Base vs S vs GTS vs Turbo. Fewer Macans sold in Sept vs Aug (1998 vs 2304) but still well above 2015. And overall, Macans sales continue to grow significantly while sales on everything else is decreasing. This doesn't of course show revenue so hard to say if Porsche is actually making more money since I assume they make much less money off a Macan vs a 911.

grim

· #97 · Oct 3, 2016

elau said:
This doesn't of course show revenue so hard to say if Porsche is actually making more money since I assume they make much less money off a Macan vs a 911.

For 2013, prior to the Macan, they made $23K per unit or 18%. Volkswagen Pockets $23,000 When You Buy That New Porsche - Bloomberg. For 2014, enter the Macan, profit drops to $19K Porsche Earned $19,000 Per Car in 2014 » AutoGuide.com News From the Annual Report, 2015 profit was up 25% https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/com...year-2015-profit-revenue-employees-12329.html , but I suspect the per unit profit is down. Yes, the Macan is dragging it down. In other words, they are selling far more cars, and making more money, but per unit profit is going down.

80K Macans were sold and you know more will be sold in 2016. Profit will rise again but the days of $23,000 profit per car are over.

Juce

· #98 · Oct 3, 2016

Macan loaner experience

My Turbo went in for tires on Friday and I was given a base macan loaner for the weekend. If all you're doing is following the license plate in front of you, the car is ok except that there are dozens of vehicles that will perform as well or better for many thousands less. Flooring the accelerator yields a pause and then a tremendous surge that peters out immediately ( yes, by then you're going 50 mph ) and leaves you wanting. When I was shopping for a car and test drove this, I would shake my head and walk away wondering what happened to the Porsche brand. This happened to BMW and enthusiasts are leaving in droves; is this the Porsche future?

Macanuck

· #99 · Oct 3, 2016

Shark said:
I'm not at all certain the assumption the base model is not selling is correct. The number of base cars sitting on a dealer's lot does not tell you how many have sold.

So true. Our local Audi dealer has 40 plus Q5s on the lot. It sells like hotcakes and most people don't want to wait 4 months to special order one. Hence the limited number of trim packages. I stopped waving at black Q5s in my neighbourhood (my wife has one) because there are so many that I can't tell which one is hers from a distance.

Reactions: 2

elau

· #100 · Oct 3, 2016

Juce said:
This happened to BMW and enthusiasts are leaving in droves; is this the Porsche future?

BMW Group achieves record earnings in 2015

"The BMW Group achieved its sixth record-breaking year in succession in 2015, posting new highs to date for sales volumes, revenues and profit before tax, despite a volatile market environment."

If enthusiasts are leaving in droves, they are being replaced in droves and droves by new paying customers. Yes, the enthusiasts are going to be unhappy because they've "diluted the brand" and lowered the cost of entry. And this forum is made up of Porsche enthusiasts so I can strongly sense the unhappiness here that Porsche is doing the same. But at the end of the day, Porsche is a publicly traded business that wants to make money and it's chosen a strategy that is proven. That strategy will not appeal to some enthusiasts, who will leave the brand in search of a brand that caters more towards their performance oriented tastes. But you can't argue that the strategy does work if the goal is to make money.

Volkswagen Group Porsche boosts revenue and profit by 25 per cent

"2015 was the fifth consecutive record year for Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Sales revenue, operating profit and deliveries reached top levels as did employee numbers."

Where this strategy leads to eventually remains to be seen. If you move your brand too far from "luxury" to "commodity", you start competing in a different market with different rules. The trick is to find that sweet spot for your brand.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

81 - 100 of 111 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.