Porsche to Blacklist Folks Who Flip Cars for Profit
Company cracks down on those using rare GT variants as hedge funds.
Porsche has offered no shortage of rare and collectible variants of cars over the years. And collectors have responded in true capitalistic fashion — by buying them up and flipping them for big profits. The second hand market for cars like the 911R is completely insane, for example, with cars selling for 3-4 times their original MSRP. And Porsche apparently isn’t going to tolerate it any more.
In a recent interview with Car and Driver, Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger made it very clear that he isn’t happy with people buying his cars and profiting off of them rather than driving and enjoying them.
“I don’t like this business of people buying our cars to make money on them,” Preuninger said. “That was never our intention. The purpose of limiting a car is not for it to gain value. We don’t want to be laying money on each car’s roof when they run out of the factory.”
And they apparently aren’t going to lay down and let it continue to happen, either. Preuninger told C&D that they are monitoring the situation closely, and that flippers may not be able to purchase limited production models moving forward.
‘I don’t like this business of people buying our cars to make money on them.
That was never our intention.’
“If you’re flipping cars, then I think it’s understandable that you won’t get on the list for the next car if we have more demand than supply. It’s not a punishment but a strategy: to supply the cars to the customers who will really use them. I think that’s just fair.”
Preuninger even lashed out at 911R buyers upset at the decision to offer a manual transmission in the 2018 911 GT3. That decision allegedly makes their cars less exclusive and subsequently hurts their value. He responded by saying that Porsche is “not a hedge fund,” but rather an automaker that seeks to fulfill the demands of their clients.
Whether or not Porsche successfully puts the brakes on the runaway secondary market remains to be seen. Limiting access to rare models seems reasonable, but the profit margins out there are quite astounding at the moment. As they always do, enterprising profiteers will always find a way to make a quick buck. Whether that be in the stock market or the collectible car market.
