GreggT

Porsche's 1,2 win at Le Mans with the GT1 was 98 and culmination of a significant effort through the 90s. The 993 started the company back financially.....contributed to their effort towards 98. By the end of the decade they were already very profitable (before pepper) and we started to hear the speeches at PCA Parades.....Riedel at 2001..."now the most profitable car maker ever".

There are reasons, and there are reasons, why they pulled out after 98 however the one that stands out in my mind was the one Porsche decided to run up the flag pole for the public as the #1 reason.....ie. we must pull out of racing so we can devote all resources (people/time/talent/Weissach) to the truck project.

It blew me away.........not that they were doing it (the truck project) but that someone was dumb enough to develop that press release.

texas911

While it sucks that Porsche doesn't race anymore, I do see that they need to turn a profit not just now but for the future. Remember the dark days of the late 80s realy 90's? That's why they have the Cayenne. Can't blame them for that. But of course you can't rely on your past history to sell cars either.

Pzkw993

I apologize in advance for a long post.

I just turned 33 but as a former BMX racer and skatepark rider (until this year when my knees finally gave up) I have typically "run" with a mid-twenties crowd of people. In my experience, the younger someone is nowadays, the less they care about, or are impressed with, Porsche. When I was a teenager every kid knew the expected progression of an auto enthusiast. He would drive a VW until he could afford a Bimmer. He'd keep driving Bimmers until he could afford a Porsche. Every kid knew the Porsche lineup by heart and could argue 928 v 911 v 944 Turbo with you all day. We were also interested in racing and how Porsche did there.

Younger people today think of Porsches as slow, expensive cars for bald men with ED. So how can this image problem be fixed? I don't think racing will do it, unless Porsche can get a sedan of some kind into Speed GT or Touring. The people who watch racing are already Porsche fans and hey, they do own the GT classes with private entries.

Porsche needs something else - probably a car with the dynamism and visual power of a 911 at a Boxster-level price. Actually, the solution is simple. Put the 3.8 S motor in a Boxster Coupe, cut the features out of it, and sell it for $40K flat.

Adrian

WW gave a speech about a year ago on TV clearly stating that unless somebody else paid the bills Porsche would not re-enter motorsport with a factory supported effort.
All the stuff in magazines is pure wishful thinking by the writers and editors. I believe some of them actually make up stories to try and prod things along.
Porsche has not been in front line racing since Le Mans 1998. Over 6 years ago and they are the most profitable car company. The bean counters will be hard to convince they need to "Spend" money to make more money.
I believe if the 4-door sedan goes ahead then there might be a chance of a return to motor racing but at touring car level which is much cheaper.
Ciao,
Adrian

Terry Adams

"Younger people today think of Porsches as slow, expensive cars for bald men with ED."

That comment is a bit close to the bone But very true.

Ferrari has an easier time to justify racing because their R&D and wins translate more directly to consumer benefits and sales at their ASP (Average Selling Price) across their whole product line. Just look at the F430. What a car, what a price, but the first year's production is apparently spoken for. Hard for Porsche to justify racing $ across the current 911 and Cayenne range at under $100K.

DamonsCarrera

Not being anywhere near 20, okay, I'll bite... What is ED?

Joe S.

Erectile Dysfunction

Rick Lee

I thought the whole reason Porsche even started racing was to promote their production cars. Now that they've stopped racing but are more profitable than ever, I don't know why they'd see the need to get back into it. They were able to recover without racing and get very profitable, so I don't see much compelling reason to spend their money on promotional stuff they've proven unneccessary. Still, I wish they'd get back into it. They won't recoop any costs from me, since I'd never buy one of their newer cars. BTW, I have a friend with a deposit on a 430. I can't wait til he gets it!

csertich

I also thought when I first heard of the CGT that there would be a LeMans entry for the car. It seemed almost like a no brainer. Oh well.

I agree that Porsche needs a no frills performance car. The 3.8 Boxster coupe sounds good to me.

chuck

DamonsCarrera

Selling their production cars for less money, especially when they perform better than their other more expensive models, has never been a Porsche strategy, except in a very few, very short lived cases.

-Damon
'94 325i
'95 993

JasonAndreas

Porsche has single-handedly kept road-racing alive in the USA and most of the rest of the world with the Cup and RSR. Every race that involves sportscars has huge numbers of Porsches making up the field and not much else. Without the continuous R&D by Porsche, road racing would suck even more than it already does. Ferrari lost a good chunk of money last year because of F1, so what if Porsche doesn't run an official factory team in the top tier of motorsports. Porsche has never stopped building racecars they've just stopped fielding an official factory team.

Revvin_911S

The comment about the younger generation being less impressed with Porsche is quite accurate. I’m 21, and very few people that I know in my age range are at all impressed with the Porsche name. My 27-year-old car is a joke to them, aided, I’m sure, due to the lack of stickers and a coffee can on the exhaust, and even the brand new models don’t do anything to excite them. This spells trouble for Porsche of the future. These people who couldn’t care less about a Porsche are the people in a few years who will be able to buy one, but wont because they have grown up not being impressed by the company. It was stated that in the '70s and '80s kids looked up to Porsche and dreamed of owning one day. Well, that was also a time when Porsche was involved at the top levels of racing. Its a fair enough statement that in general young people cant afford to buy new Porsches, but it is still important to impress them with the quality and heritage of the name so that when they grow up and have the means, they can by that new 911 they have been dreaming about for years. Racing is the way to do this. Many people that are able to buy a new Porsche are of an age that they grew up when Porsche was THE car to beat, and because of that legacy are buying new Porsches today. If Porsche doesn’t get back into racing, or find some other way to dramatically improve their standing with a younger generation, then in a few years nobody will be buying Porsche because they name will simply fail to impress. Just a kid’s opinion.

OldGuy

Blake good thougths-- I hope Porsche realizes this.

fbfisher

That's funny, I thought the 993 was the answer to the "dark days" - make the product better and turn a profit. Now the truck is the answer?


I don't think the current fifteen to twenty-somthings are the market segment that Porsche is worried about. That group is still obsessed with riced out Hondas and Mini's

DamonsCarrera

Well give Ferrari, Volkswagen, even GM and FIAT some credit too...

Its been said that Porsche's cars are closer to turn-key race cars than other maker's products, which seems to be true from my experience. But the question is, how much of this is the result of strategic decisions that are 20-30 years old?

Ferrari made something north of $1B in profits last year.

This has been the case with a few exceptions since 1969.

I fear that the current requirements for cash by the young people who make up the Porsche and Piech families hold more sway with the Board of Directors than the dreams of young people amongst the general public who might one day have to be convinced to buy a Porsche.


-Damon
'94 325i
'95 993