Preuninger/Silverstone event question
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Wishing I Was At The Track
Posts: 13,665
Received 1,896 Likes
on
976 Posts
Preuninger/Silverstone event question
From Blowdog.com blog:
"A few months back, I received a survey request from Porsche relating specifically to the next gen 997 GT3. Normally, surveys go straight in the bin, but in this instance I relished the idea of being part of the demographic that helped shape the future of the GT3. The questions were specifically aimed at current owners and its intention was to guage the direction of the car; should it be softer and more compliant, or should the car be even more focused as a track car?"
A number of other attendees referenced receiving this survey and I'm just curious whether anything similar was sent to US GT3 owners?
"A few months back, I received a survey request from Porsche relating specifically to the next gen 997 GT3. Normally, surveys go straight in the bin, but in this instance I relished the idea of being part of the demographic that helped shape the future of the GT3. The questions were specifically aimed at current owners and its intention was to guage the direction of the car; should it be softer and more compliant, or should the car be even more focused as a track car?"
A number of other attendees referenced receiving this survey and I'm just curious whether anything similar was sent to US GT3 owners?
#2
No they made a point of saying in the feedback session that only the UK and German markets had been surveyed. They only had 200 reponses back too so a pretty small sample IMHO.
#4
Rennlist Member
Maybe the US regulators need to relax with DOT regs where high end cars are concerned....
#5
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Wishing I Was At The Track
Posts: 13,665
Received 1,896 Likes
on
976 Posts
Maybe. Then again they could release new cars to their largest market first, which they don't. They could have offered a sunroof delete on the Gen1 997 GT3, which they didn't. They could have offered a variation of the Clubsport Pkg, ex-the roll bar, to the US rather than making all the customers that wanted to track their cars retrofit everything, which they didn't. I could go on....
Trending Topics
#9
In fairness they did address this. They said that the reason they had only asked the UK and German owners was becuase they were the markets most likely to track their cars. They said that although the US market was far bigger a much larger number of owners bought their cars just for the road than in the UK and Germany and they wanted the GT3 to remain focused as a track car and so this is why they surveyed these markets only.
Not sure if thats the truth or just some spin that PCGB put on the whole presentation to butter up the egos of the people attending?
Not sure if thats the truth or just some spin that PCGB put on the whole presentation to butter up the egos of the people attending?
#10
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
As long as we pay "Coach Fare", I'm happy to have someone else treated with more respect that's sitting in First Class...
#11
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Wishing I Was At The Track
Posts: 13,665
Received 1,896 Likes
on
976 Posts
The higher prices paid by Europeans don't go into Porsche's pockets, they go into government coffers of respective countries in the form of taxes and tariffs. Contrary to what some may think Porsche makes excellent margins in the US.
#12
Rennlist Member
Yes we pay higher taxes but Porsche also make a killing. Our MSRP here in Aus is $280k (US$ 224k) of which $75k is tax (US$60k). That makes cost of car US$164k less a dealer margin of say 10-15%.... US$145k ... You pay $112k (less taxes and dealer cut)= maybe US$90k .... Thats over US$50k EXTRA profit for a car supplied to Aus...
I'm with GrantG, better a second class citizen for the bargains you get....
#13
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Wishing I Was At The Track
Posts: 13,665
Received 1,896 Likes
on
976 Posts
You're forgetting things like higher cost to ship cars to Aus, higher overhead per car to support dealership network, marketing, SG&A, etc, etc. The US generates more profit for Porsche than any other country.
#14
Rennlist Member
#15
Rennlist Member
Possibly but that would be on turnover, not margin per vehicle...
As for costs for Porsche, I'm not sure on what this sets them back but we have less than 10 dealers nationally, the cars sell themselves so they aren't heavily marketed and as for shipping- you live half way around the world clockwise for Porsche, we're half way around the world the other way... not sure if they play a part in actually supporting the dealers???? I can't see that the overheads per car are high enough to justify US$ 50k+ per car ....
As for costs for Porsche, I'm not sure on what this sets them back but we have less than 10 dealers nationally, the cars sell themselves so they aren't heavily marketed and as for shipping- you live half way around the world clockwise for Porsche, we're half way around the world the other way... not sure if they play a part in actually supporting the dealers???? I can't see that the overheads per car are high enough to justify US$ 50k+ per car ....
Last edited by 911rox; 06-30-2009 at 10:12 AM.