Wild Weasel

The Cayman GT4 Clubsport comes to mind.

konaforever

Since specific GT models come out only 1 out of 3 years or so, how do you expect them to raise the price to equilibrium? That's an iterative process and unless they change prices in real time (which no one does), the market conditions could change the next change the raise the price.

subshooter

Through market analysis before the product is launched. Every other business does this all the time to price their products. Charge what the market will bear. But then again, these same businesses will sell you their product if you are willing to buy it and have the money (of course!). That is why I don't get Porsche's business model. Make enough of the product to satisfy demand. Price the car at equilibrium.

The GT4 could have been another $10 or $20K higher in price and they would have sold all of their cars. (Recall that Porsche had to significantly increase their allocations to NA after they realized what demand was - a latent failure in their marketing analysis). Anybody paying attention to the pent up demand for a Cayman with a 3.8L in it could have figured that out before the car was released. The .2 GT3 is at least $30k under priced right now (just my guess as I have not done a lot of research on this point).....but clearly it is under priced. Don't even get me started on the 911R pricing. Prices get updated every year on the configurator. I don't see this as being difficult for Porsche.

dark knight

exactly! fools.

Wimankid

I agree with "sub shooter". They have a pricing and a distribution problem. On pricing they can charge more or adjust the price upward when they see demand so strong. Generally it is easier to set a higher retail price and then discount it down versus raising price after the car has been launched.

Most companies in large capital goods withhold slots/production for retail allocation. Dealers can place orders for stock, but retails take priority. PCNA doesn't seem to be doing that. Why would you have retail order customers having their requests go unfilled and ship other models of 911"s to dealers to sit on their lots? Other companies also penalize dealers for "false" retails - like we are seeing now, orders in the dealer's name or a family member and then have the car show up for sale with large ADMs. In terms of making more, Porsche is deciding to not make more GT3's - maybe to increase the desire for the car. They could work with their supply base and the works council at the factory to add overtime and/or partial shifts if they desired to do so.

I'll be open, I'm a frustrated customer who can't get a GT3 allocation (offered several at $25k+ ADM) at a reasonable price and now have a GTS on order.

subshooter

I'm not quite sure what you mean buy your pejorative. Even if customers want to pay more than MSRP, we can't because there are no GT3 car allocations at our dealerships. Or if there are, you have to be on some special list. And as we have seen from other posters, this list doesn't mean anything since you can be slipped when another more "important" customer asks for an allocation. Porsche doesn't control the dealer's list since dealers are independent franchises and are not owned by Porsche.

Maybe I just need to move to a third world country so that I can learn how to be corrupt and bypass the process. ....but wait, I already lived and worked in a third world country and somehow I didn't pickup that skill set.

....but thank you for your insightful commentary anyway dark knight.

Archimedes

The benefit of raising the MSRP to market, assuming the market clearing price is higher than current MSRP, is that you would eliminate the flip and/or dealer ADM opportunity and it would be more likely that configurable allocations go directly to the ultimate buyer. It would put more cars on the road and less in storage, and more of them would have been speccd by the person that was actually buying them in the end.

subshooter

I completely agree. It solves many problems. It will also put more money in PCNA/PAG's pockets and less in the dealership's pockets. It would make the buying process more predicable and fair for consumers and put these cars in the hands of car lovers.

The reason guys are flipping GT3RSs and making 50k in profit is because Porsche under priced the cars on initial offering. It's like an IPO investment banking team that got the price wrong (which is a big deal and failure). The 911R pricing was a huge failure by Porsche marketing. Anybody in this forum could have told them that on day minus zero.

As much as I admire Porsche marketers, they are not good at assessing demand and pricing their products. It's obvious to anybody that is really paying attention. Their marketers need core car lovers on their team to help guide them.

Manifold

Perhaps Porsche is taking the long view, and factoring in how long the cars will last (more than just a few years), how long owners will keep them, effect of pricing points on depreciation, effect of pricing points on people selling theirs cars in order to 'upgrade' to the latest model, effect on sale of their other models, etc. It's not just about selling cars and making max profit NOW, it's also about selling cars and making max profit on a sustained basis.

STG

You willing to pay $20K over for a configurable allocation? You can have one tomorrow. I'll put you in touch.

Demand is more than supply and sellers have the upper hand. It is what it is. Many smart guys can make $20K faster for the same amount of time many here spend complaining about ADM's.

Just trying to give you an idea of the reality out there. For the right $$, anything can be had.

subshooter

PM me. It needs to be configurable. The four closest dealers to me are saying no way. It would be European delivery so I don't care where it is coming from

Jimmy-D

You are correct above.

Do not be fooled thinking that PAG are idiots and do not know how to price their products. Markets can flip at a dime so they spend a lot of time pricing it where it flat lines between the ups and downs. If the market hits the crapper do you think they lower their price they sell to the Dealers??

evilfij

Try this: Hi, my name is subshooter, I would like to buy a GT3 and I am willing to pay market value. Pretty sure you will get one, although you are a bit late, allocations open up when people back out. Manhattan just sold one at $15k over although I know dealers will probably want the $3k the euro delivery costs you. As noted about, $20k would do it. Talk to the GM/sales manager. I know two of the dealers near you have sold all their allocations, but that does not mean they are actually sold or one won’t pop up.

RennOracle

First of all, if there is a car representing Porsche "Halo car" is the GT3, it's supposed to be the cup car for the street, it's these cars that represent the brand in tracks around the globe, with it's owners. 918 was a tech showdown, an halo car, but it has gone now, so GT cars are the actual Halo cars of a brand that has 90% of a line up with cars less powerful and fast than any GT car. Then, Porsche isn't making limited GT3 or GT4 or even GT2 RS, they are making as many as they can produce in a time stamp. You will ask "Why don't they make more?" Because they don't need to and they already make a LOT of them.

But even if they didn't made a lot of them, A LOT of people buy GT3's and RS because they know they can drive the **** out of it for a year or half a year, sell it, and in the worst case scenario, they will not lose money. So this could very well be part of Porsche business model, to have limited production of GT cars, but it isn't. They did limited runs of the 4.0 and GT2 RS because people were scrapping for coins and no one had ***** at the time.

You don't have an allocation, because you don't have a relationship with your dealer, try another one. Pay ADM, wait it out, or you should had remembered that you wanted one earlier and put a deposit on the car before everyone else.
As for the PTS thingy, that's a fantasy, so it's not really a "let's say" type of thing.
US has the 918 program, because they were pretty sure they wouldn't sell the 918 and it would end up like the XJ220, so they did this just to sweeten the deal and the clients that bought the 918 were pretty charitable with Porsche, remember the economy was about to tank even more in 2012-13, so people that bought them took Porsche out of a pickle, in Porsche mind, they deserved a reward. In the end they have to honor the program until today. What's your point? They flip them, so what? More cars in a limited buyers market, faster depreciation, you should be thankful.

Plus, why would Porsche sell a GT3 (RS) to you instead of the guy that deposited a LOT of trust (1M for a car in 2012 was A LOT of trust) in your brand for a car that no one really knew what to expect? Or even other people that never got a 918 but have a better car history? Or the Mootys or Trakcar of this Porsche world? What makes you so entitled to one? Money? Plenty of people have money.

But at the end of the day, if you go around, you will find an allocation, if you don't, just wait it out, Porsche pumped up so much GT cars and between this year and next there will be so many nice Porsche cars, flooding the market, that you will be able to get a nice GT3 for MRSP or less in less than a year. So don't stress it out.

And for Porsche, they don't even need to sell a lot of cars, they could sell less and be a standalone, very profitable company, as they have the biggest profit margins of any manufacturer today. So no point on diluting the brand even more.

subshooter

Thanks for your thoughtful reply and that of others. I feel better.