Good evening folks,

I got a notification from my SA for a 2021 February allocation confirmation today; however, due to issues, I’d prefer to push for an allocation that comes later, perhaps, 2022 early spring. My SA said he was informed that 2021 would be the last year Porsche will make 718 variants productions. I remember reading it somewhere that there will still be some 2022 718 models. I could be wrong but just wondering if you have any thoughts about this?

My SA is also a personal friend so I don’t believe he would just make it up and try to push the sales.

 

Maybe lower 2022 production? GT4 RS isn’t announced yet so I’d expect that to see 2022 GT4 RS.

 

I haven't heard anything confirming 2022 production. I know the 718 as is cannot be sold in Europe for 2022, since for 2022 onwards the EU mandates features like speed limit aware speed limiters, drowsiness and distraction detection, auto emergency braking, collision data recorders, pre-wiring for alcohol interlocks, and a larger soft area in the front to absorb pedestrian head impacts. It might be possible they'll sell model year 2022 718s in North America.

When the 718 GT4/Spyder were announced in 2019, Andreas Preuninger said they will have a 2-3 year production run. Production started in 2019 for Europe, so his statement again lines up with 2021 being the final year, at least for Europe.

It might be that the GT4 RS will be produced in calendar year 2021 as model year 2022, as a last hurrah for the 982 platform before the 718 goes electric.

 

My guess is that they won't overlap the production of the GT4 and the GT4RS by much if at all. I can see them building GT4s until Sept/Oct 2021 and then the GT4RS starts probably startings Aug/Sept 2021.

 

Shouldn’t we be seeing 983 test mules on the road by now if it is to be released in 2022? Perhaps there will be a production gap while they figure out how to make an electric car drive like a Porsche. They have indicated they are having problems dealing with the weight of the batteries while providing proper driving dynamics. Nothing but purse speculation, but fun to guess at the future.

 

Most likely there will be a gap between the 982 ending production and the 983 EV starting. I haven’t yet seen any signs of a 982.2 or 983, and the current 982 won’t be legal to sell in Europe for 2022 onwards.

 

I personally would not assume any 2022 production just to be on the safe side, so dont count on an allocation after July 2021, YMMV

 

+1

 

I wonder how this will affect the value of Spyders and GT4’s. I assume the introduction of only EV variants will bode well for the value of the Gas Variants.

 

I see them still offering the GT4 in North America. California by itself has a large market for the GT4. The GT4 RS will be way more expensive and the 911's are getting too heavy and more Grand Touring. There is still a strong market for the 718 in North America, its the proper sports car, light weight, and superior to the 911 in handling dynamics.

 

really? Why you think so?

 

For many of the reasons the 2020 911 RSR had to become a mid engine car to remain competitive, balance and weight distribution.

 

A mid engine sports car vs a rear engine sports car will always handle better if in theory set up exactly the same because of the more central mass and polar movement.

 

That's in theory. Porsche has spent 50+ years on the 911 and have become very good at using the advantages of rear engines and dealing with the drawbacks.

 

Well, Porsche has spent 50+ years in trying to overcome the basic laws of physic using suspension/rear steering and electronic aids to help hide and overcome the disadvantages of a rear engine vehicle. They've done a very good job but at the end of the day, the laws of physic will still win.

I only say the word "in theory" because there is no manufacturer that creates a mid engine and rear engine model of the exact same vehicle but if there was one (in theory) and everything was set up the exact same such as suspension tuning, engine output, traction control, electronic aides, etc, the mid engine car would out perform the rear engine car in terms of handling dynamics all the time.