delisedesign

Im doing some research and was wondering if anyone could provide an educated guess as to how much it costs Porsche to build a single base 997 or 997 S or turbo.....any backup data would be much appreciated as well.

Edgy01

That is a serious company secret. Any numbers that are tossed about here will be incorrect, as the correct numbers will never be allowed to see the light of day.

delisedesign

i know how serious the secrecy is....im not expecting a porsche employee to stick his neck out here, much less am i expecting the numbers to be precisely accurate.....im just wondering if anyone wants to give some input.....

Macster

One number that has been kicked around -- by Porsche no less -- is there is a profit margin of around 13% per car, IIRC touted as one if not the highest profit margin in the automotive industry. This suggests to me then that a car that lists for say $90K MSRP costs Porsche $78.3K to make.

Sincerely,

Macster.

ADias

In the price of a Porsche a key component is engineering. I at least value Weissach. The cost of the product must reflect this.

Mike in CA

Porsche marks up to the dealer and then the dealer marks up to the customer, right? Wouldn't that 13% profit margin, if true, more likely be applied to the dealer invoice price, not MSRP? According to edmunds.com a 2010 Carrera S had an MSRP of $88,800 and an invoice of $79,920 (numbers may be off very slightly but comparison is valid). With profit margin based on MSRP Porsche would be making next to nothing. At 13% profit based on invoice price OTOH, Porsche's cost on that car would be $70,725 just by the numbers. It's probably quite a bit less since other factors and overhead would figure into the profit margin as well.

Macster

Could very well be the 13% markup is reflected in the price the dealer pays.

Reading between the lines of what I have come across on this subject I was assuming too the 13% profit margin was net profit, that it was after all costs associated with the production of the vehicle had been accounted for.

But it might very well be a gross profit margin.

Only Porsche knows for sure.

Sincerely,

Macster.

ross74

guys i think these numbers are way off.
take the list price in any specific country.
subtract all taxes VAT+any other taxes specific to the country in question
now from the net price, calculate that
- the dealer gets around 15-20% margin
- the National Sales Company about another 15% (PCNA for example)
- then Porsche AG makes the rest

it should all come roughly to the fact that the cost of a single car is around 50% or even less than the list price

mdrums

You also have to factor in the marketing cost along with everything else.

Dr_KarlB

The usual type of model for this would look like. Revenue is broken down into buckets (to total 100%)

Gross Margin
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
RD&E
SG&A
I&W
Contributed Profit

My guess is Porsche runs at 13% Contributed profit

Usually COGS would be 30% to 50%

points

+1.

Edgy01

I have heard that Porsche employees can buy a Porsche for about half price.

Spiffyjiff

lucky SOB's!!! of course, that's not necessarily indicative of build cost. it could be just another (below cost to employees) incentive that you and i and the rest of the p-car community are funding.

Fahrer

Basically, I agree. If a car is listing for about $90K in the US, I bet the fully aborbed cost leavng the factory ( including variable and fixed) is no more than $60K and probably more like $50K. Variable costs are probably more like $30-40K.

jsmirand

I stepped back a few years (before the VW merger) and for 2005/06, you can read their financial statements and get a sense of things:
Revenue: 7.3B Euros
Cost of Materials: 3.2B Euros
Personnel Expenses (am assuming direct/Indirect Mfg labor): 1.0B Euros

Then you get depreciation (0.489B Euros) and Other operating, which may include marketing, R&D at 1.8B Euros.

My guess is the variable cost to build one extra base 911 is about half of MSRP, with maybe higher margins on top line (e.g. Turbo) models.