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This is a great "problem" for any company to have. I hope they don't get too cute with trying to accomplish this. Its merely a result of a great product.
Take Nike for example. They tried to crack down on people flipping Jordans/Shoes 2 years ago. They spent millions on changing the release system, charged +$25 more and started to make more than enough so everyone could have them. Now a days you can find 5-7 models what would have been easy sellers in their Nike Factory store at any time. Once the hype disappeared so did their sales. Their stock is down over 20% in the last 2 years.
Porsche should just embrace it and let it take its course.
If anything crack down on dealers charging ridiculous premiums on them. Hype is never a bad thing for a company to have.
Speculators, at all levels, embraced Sub-Prime Mortgages.
Hype is never a bad thing, no.
(Not unless it crosses the line into illegality)
But collateral damage IS.
Last edited by Bartleby7334; 06-04-2017 at 08:55 AM.
Reason: Caveat about legal hype vs criminal misrepresentation)
Chill out, Joe. You are no better or no worse
than me. We are simply...Rennlisters. A band
of brothers. And you ARE part of my social circle!
I have to applaud you for always keeping the conversation at a respectful, friendly, and inclusive level. It shows it's possible to have an opinion and a discussion without having to go to war over it. You're a gentleman.
But the issue of resales re: 911R is limited to the US
because of these 'unintended consequences' of the
918 VIP Program that was instituted here when PAG/
PCNA were having a hard time getting all the US
allocated 918s sold in our market.
Originally Posted by STG
Eduardo, who can be credited as being the architect
of the 918 VIP Program?
Originally Posted by CAlexio
I thought it was David Donohue, (son of Mark
the racer by the way). Or is he just the face
of it responsible for customer relations?
Alessandro:
Sccchiii just told us who is the manager at PCNA
that came up with the 918 VIP Program for the
US market. And I believe him. Sccchiii is very
well connected & he should know.
Many were involved but within PCNA Andre is credited.
I might add that PAG views him very highly because of
the increased 918 sales that resulted when program
launched.
***
To clarify, David Donohue is indeed the current '918 Client
Relationship Manager'. But the 918 VIP Program was started
before David took up that position. Actually the first '918
Client Relationship Manager', or '918 Concierge' as it was
often called, was Daniel Eastman. Both of these individuals
executed policies instituted by much higher ups at PCNA.
So you can not even remotely attribute the 918 VIP Program
to these 'field' managers. I was the first individual here at
Rennlist that posted about the arrival of Mark Donohue as
the new '918 Concierge' at Porsche, so I remember distinctly
when he arrived at the scene:
Originally Posted by Z356
To me the biggest surprise of the day was seeing David Donohue
as the newly hired '918 Client Relationship Manager' on his second
week of his job at PCNA! David is the son of Mark Donohue, the
legendary driver who had a very close relationship with Porsche
before his untimely death on August 19, 1975 after suffering a
crash during a practice run for the Austrian Grand Prix at the
Österreichring!
David is 47 years old and also has a distinguished career in racing!
He won the 2009 '24 Hours of Daytona' in a Brumos-sponsored Riley-
Porsche and the gt2 class in 1998 at the '24 Heures du Mans' in a
Team Oreca Viper! More recently in 2013, David won the GX Class
at the '24 Hours of Daytona' driving a Napleton-sponsored Porsche
Cayman S!
David Donohue has previously worked for PAG & PCNA as a consultant
& brand ambassador, usually in a public relations role dealing with
automotive media on behalf of Porsche. He will continue to live with
his family in West Chester, Pennsylvania and commute to 918 events
& PCNA's headquarters in Atlanta. He is the permanent replacement
for Daniel Eastman, the former '918 Client Relationship Manager', who
left PCNA in March to pursue other interests. Melissa Witek, a 'Personal
Design Specialist' with 'Porsche Exclusive' at PCNA, ably filled in for
Daniel until his replacement was found. Melissa continues to be the
'Design Specialist' for 918 customers in the US, but now resumes her
responsibilities for the full range of other Porsche models that require
design expertise via 'Porsche Exclusive'. She will be moving from NY
to Atlanta and will be based at PCNA's headquarters.
Because of start-up delays, Porsche now expects 918 production to
continue until approximately the summer of 2015, with deliveries
scheduled until the Fall of 2015 here in the US. David is expected
to continue in his role as '918 Client Relationship Manager' until the
918 production phase is completed at Zuffenhausen and all vehicles
are sold & delivered to North American customers! This is all scheduled
to take place by year-end 2015. Although not an engineer like his
father (Brown, Class of 1959), David is an accomplished driver whose
experience in professional racing will resonate with the customers that
Porsche has targeted for this very special sports car, perhaps the most
daring & technologically advanced vehicle that Porsche has produced
to date! We wish David success in this new position at Porsche. And
I am sure the 918 clientele in North America will appreciate his involvement
with this model & its marketing program in particular!
In the photo, David Donohue is wearing the 918 'Acid Green' Polo Shirt!
Although now we know who can be credited as being the architect
of the 918 VIP Program, I would like to delve a little bit deeper &
explore why PCNA felt it needed to institute such a 'controversial'
program to incentivize its sales of 918 Spyders in this market!
It's an interesting story & one we should discuss here at Rennlist.
I am currently working on it & hope others will soon join me in
that conversation!
I am not sure why everyone is blaming the 918 VIP program for the lack of allocations. It's my understanding that the allocations to the 918 owners are not counted against the dealer allocations. I do understand that some 918 owners flipped their RS and GT3 allocations but this would not impact the ADM surcharge. What am I missing?
People should stop hiding behind "capitalism" to justify "flipping", I believe more supply would address the issues and create more happy customers, more of "us" should buy these cars to create more happiness in the world, look at the Focus RS community, dealers are getting burnt who held out for premiums and there is such enthusiasm and a ton of mods and aftermarket parts are out there now. Like many of you Im no fan of the 918 program, but look at it this way, it got MSRP sales for the first cars and rewarded those loyal enough to take a million dollar risk. Those people deserve to be first and since they get their cars at MSRP you should too is the way I look at it. I believe all GT cars should be ordered to spec by customer, that its not a car to put on the showroom floor until regular orders are filled and they should build as many as they get real nonrefundable, substantial deposits for
Originally Posted by camjan
T
Take Nike for example. They tried to crack down on people flipping Jordans/Shoes 2 years ago. They spent millions on changing the release system, charged +$25 more and started to make more than enough so everyone could have them. Now a days you can find 5-7 models what would have been easy sellers in their Nike Factory store at any time. Once the hype disappeared so did their sales. Their stock is down over 20% in the last 2 years.
Porsche should just embrace it and let it take its course.
If anything crack down on dealers charging ridiculous premiums on them. Hype is never a bad thing for a company to have.
Apples to oranges, Jordan fans are getting older, so some have aged out, died or went to prison, plus you don't shoot someone at your local car dealership if you missed out on an allocation. Also with "medical" marijuana out there, many athletic shoe buyers have another product to compete for their dollahs
I am not sure why everyone is blaming the 918 VIP program for the lack of allocations. It's my understanding that the allocations to the 918 owners are not counted against the dealer allocations. I do understand that some 918 owners flipped their RS and GT3 allocations but this would not impact the ADM surcharge. What am I missing?
Preferential and exclusive first-right-of-refusal for limited series.
Apples to oranges, Jordan fans are getting older, so some have aged out, died or went to prison, plus you don't shoot someone at your local car dealership if you missed out on an allocation. Also with "medical" marijuana out there, many athletic shoe buyers have another product to compete for their dollahs
look how well the 918 system worked for the customer, contrary to what we "peasants" get, their allocations appeared to have belonged to them and not the dealer, it worked they are happy, if only a similar system could be created for GT car sales
The main issue with Porsche increasing supply to "cure" the problem is the additional exposure to risk. What happens when the additional inventory doesn't turn? It is sold below MSRP and cheapens the brand. You could make an argument that they don't mind the flippers because it allows a higher annual price increase. If scalpers are buying up all of the good seats to Taylor Swift's concerts the solution may not be only playing in 100,000 seat stadiums. It is a higher cost and dilutes the experience.
The main issue with Porsche increasing supply to "cure" the problem is the additional exposure to risk. What happens when the additional inventory doesn't turn? It is sold below MSRP and cheapens the brand.
Look their product mix. 95%+ of it is non GT cars.
* The 911 sales are not broken down. # includes ALL 911's.
I see no cheapening of the brand with all the other models they make and stock dealer lots with. Does Porsche have a "cheap brand" reputation? The average Porsche buyer these days can barely tell you what a GT car is anyway.
Over 54,000 cars for PCNA last year. How many were GT cars??
How about diluting the brand? How many sports cars are even sold these days? Look
^^^^So a 7% drop in YTD CPO 911 sales. A 10% drop from 15-16 in 911 sales. Hmmm, do you see the writing on the walls? Contrast that with 42% growth from 15-16 and 28% growth in CPO YTD for the Macan. All of this at double the volume of the 911. They should be dedicating more capital and production scheduling to the Macan.
^^^^So a 7% drop in YTD CPO 911 sales. A 10% drop from 15-16 in 911 sales. Hmmm, do you see the writing on the walls? Contrast that with 42% growth from 15-16 and 28% growth in CPO YTD for the Macan. All of this at double the volume of the 911. They should be dedicating more capital and production scheduling to the Macan.
The 911 is the flagship. Without it the rest of the lineup does not have the same allure. They can't treat the 911 like a red-headed step child.
I just woke up on a beautiful and lazy morning in Carmel and read this discussion. Having met Eduardo in person, and having corresponded offline, I can say he is a true gentleman. We can all agree or respectfully disagree about flippers and ADMs, but Eduardo always brings a necessary decorum to the forum (not to mention the invaluable PTS information he provides). He gets my vote for MVP of Rennlist.
06-04-2017, 08:51 AM
