Caughtacab911

In case anyone was wondering...$23K and 18% margin on a 991! So much for the adage that most dealers make their money from used vehicles.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...porsche#r=read

Domer911

looks like two different conversations here...first is how much money VW might make, and the second is how much money a dealership makes. No way a dealer makes 18% on new cars. There's no question that dealerships do better with used inventory than with new. fyi

beden1

I'm not so sure who makes what between Porsche and the dealer, but I was able to get nearly 21% off when I bought my new 2012 GTS at the end of 8/12. I would doubt anyone actually lost money on the deal.

sjfehr

You've gotta figure they're not losing money selling base 981s at $53k, and there isn't a whole lot of difference in manufacturing cost between a 981 and 991.

997_Toronto

The dealership may not have lost money by giving you 21% off but the cost to dealership is not just what they paid for that vehicle. There are other costs like the space occupied on the showroom floor, etc. in some cases that require dealers to get older models off the floor. IMO

alexb76

WOW! That's amazing... it makes even more $$ than Bentley per car, which is usually double the MSRP!

PhilD

The $23k is an average, so in theory on lower priced vehicles they will be making less and on higher priced vehicles they will be making more. Considering how many of the lower priced vehicles they sell, which along with the lower profit per vehicle obviously lowers the average profit for the company, it would not be surprising to see profits on a 911 quite a bit higher than $23k.

It was speculated a while back by Bernstein Research that profits on 911s are very high.

I remember hearing that it only cost $10k more for Porsche to produce a 911 Turbo than it does a Boxster. I don't know how accurate that is, but I doubt it costs them $100k more to build one.

sjfehr

Dammit, Porsche, why can't you start selling us $60k Porsche Turbos and GT3s, and just dispense with the rest of the lineup completely???

alexb76

I think the profit is primarily in the options... it wasn't not that long ago that someone on 991 forum optioned a C2S at $184K! I bet 84K of that was profit...

myw

you are totally correct.

cdn prices 997 upgrades in 5 grand increments (even more for 991)

- leather 5 grand

- nav+bose 5 grand

- adaptive seats + short shifter - 5 grand

- non-standard paint color+sport exhhaust+leather door sills - another 5 grand.

- sport chronos + multi functon wheel + cd changer + head crests, wheel crests, rear wiper, heated seats - another 5 grand

- awd 4/4s model - 7-8 grand

- upgrade from base model to S (bigger engine, brakes, nicer headlights etc etc) - 20 grand.

adds up fast.

thejoee

Absolutely it's options. Most p-car owners want their cars loaded as much as they can afford. I've seen the same car (same year, same model, same kms) on the resale market with a price difference of $20-$25,000 in some cases.

myw

imo its like similar to shopping for a higher end estate home, the upgrades is where they really start to make their money.

PhilD

Make no mistake they are making a tidy profit before you even add a single option. The options and accessories no doubt increase that profit margin by another tidy sum though.

targaC4S

I still can't understand why anyone would want or actually buy a 991.

beden1

I had first gone to another Porsche dealer who advertised a year-end model clearance sale and to "make an offer" on their cars in inventory. I first did some pricing research here on Rennlist and decided to make them a lowball offer on the phone, predicated on if I liked the car after a test drive. That was a 2012 black on black GTS cab that was loaded. To my surprise, they accepted my offer if I decided that I liked the car. I decided that I didn't want the color combo, so I called another dealer that had my car in inventory and they also accepted my similar offer on the phone. I figured the deal went a long way towards covering my first year depreciation.

Back in 1979, I had purchased a new BMW 320i from a local dealer. That's before there was BMW NA and when they had an East Coast distributor. Before making the deal, I asked to see the invloice for the car. It showed that the distributor was charging over 25% of the window sticker price. Between that charge and the dealer upcharge, along with BMW's profit margin, shipping costs and etc., the car probably cost well under 50% of the sticker to manufacture.

Times may have changed since then, but BMW later cut out their middle man distributor which no doubt saved them quite a bit to use for modern day advertising campaigns, and etc.