cello

Well, I got closed out; Dealer lost the 'late' allocation per the above. Says the Porsche Rep advised there will be a '11 and that orders will be taken this summer for fall delivery. I believe my Dealer; ie that that is what Porsche said. I am not sure I believe Porsche at this point. I am very confused by how Porsche handled this car here .. Oh well. Maybe it is time for a dedicated track car of some sort as I do not want to lose another season tacking, then fighting and wrestling, my avatar around the track

Alan Smithee

I know this may be blasphemy in the GT3 forum, but it is built on a high volume platform designed to be very profitable as the $47k Boxster. At ~$70k more for the GT3 and ~$90k more for the RS, Porsche is making a mint on these cars. The margin for dealers is obviously huge as well. The 'specialized' parts (bumper cap, sway bar, etc.) don't cost Porsche significantly more to manufacture than those on a Boxster. Yes, the drivetrain is more complicated and complex, but over the years they've built a large volume of them in the higher performing cars as well.

Truth is, unless they sell the car at a loss, there is no motivation to sell fewer of them.

911dev

Yeah, the drivetrain is a little more complex, too include a $40-$50k true dry sump engine with racing roots. I looked this up before and the margin on a base GT3 is around $10k. The 997.1 turbo was around $16-$18K, I believe the .2 turbo is even more with the mass produced DI engine. GT3's not so much, yet...

Alan Smithee

Obviously none of us know for sure, but I would guess that the GT3 is more profitable than the Turbo. The Turbo has many more parts, from rear spoiler motors to side vents to the turbos and their plumbing, more leather, etc...the GT3 has fewer parts than the S, but with a different drivetrain.

Any of the models loaded with options is a gold mine for them.

Alan Smithee

Don't confuse retail price with what it costs them to build. To another of your posts, yes, with the entire sports car lineup eventually using the 9A1 motor, profitability will further increase.

911dev

I respect and value your opinions, but if we were having a beer together, I'd bet you the tab that the turbo IS the most profitable. Not a big bet I know, but you get my drift.

Alan Smithee

I'm not a gambling man, but I'd take that bet

911dev

I don't have the cost to build and retail confused; it is relative. I am just talking about dealer profit margins as we can only guess as to Porsche's real margins.

I do have to disagree with your statement about current profitability being the ONLY factor Porsche is looking at. Yes, we all know Porsche (VW) like any business wants to make money; I don't kid myself here. However, I do believe that Porsche is trying to preserve the GT3 legacy in that they are trying to protect future sales and thus "preserve the model" for selfish reasons. They know that many of the smart buyers (we know the demographics) even if cash rich and not hurt by any economic slump, still look at what the rest of the buyers are doing. (There are still on lot of buyers out there.) So, the domino effect applies, in that ready buyers won't make a move unless they "think" that the model is relatively preserved and that everyone wants a GT3. Porsche is cutting production or at least theatening to, to obviously rid current inventory and make buyers want 2011's. In the end, Porsche wins over the long haul, dealers win and buyers still want to buy, a perceived or real, limited car. Porsche would lose more if they lose the GT3 cache.

Alan Smithee

IMO, Porsche is doing a good job preserving the legacy/model by how it is marketing the lineup, which limits demand for the GT3 (no sunroof, no back seats, minimal frills, killer motor, while offering an extremely capable S model with PDK, sport suspension with LSD, etc. for all but the hardest -core), rather than Porsche deliberately limiting supply.

I don't think anybody with cash in hand to buy a new GT3 will be unable to buy a car. There are many available on the ground now, and there will be more arriving in the next couple months.

cello

^ Yep, but they will have $20K of unnec options. Just look to the inventory now. I'll share emails to and from my Dealer re this FWIW (to be clear his first allocation was pre-mounts, etc, which I turned down and the second - disc in my intial post above, got cut) :

Hi CJ,

Yes, I was disappointed to say the least. It appears as thought he dealers screwed up on this one.

But on the positive side, Porsche doens't want to devalue the car by building more than is necessary, so they're not going to. I ordered my GT3 very simply and had no problem selling it. I think the dealers saw the GT3 as a cash cow and figured people would pay all the money for loaded cars. I guess they were wrong. People want the car, but they don't want $20k of superfluous options.

I'm very sorry CJ that this has happened. I actually didn't see it coming at all. I'm very displeased as I was truly excited for you. I'll be able to order a 2011 though for you exactly as you want, so that might still be an option.

Anyway, let me know if I can do anything for you.

All the best and I look forward to the next time we have occasion to chat.

Cheers,

Alex


On Sat, Dec 5, 2009 at 10:17 AM, ... wrote:

Hey Alex:

I got closed out, huh. For some reason, I thought it would end this way. Its a shame that the Dealers here mostly all loaded their lots with over-optioned GT3s on the first go 'round (which unsurprisingly in this econ climate are still sitting there) of "allocations". You are the exception of course :-). I am not convinced either that the 2011 is certain, esp. if they try the selling the same pre-loaded cars on "allocation". Very confusing how they handled this car: First, introduce it without a couple of "worthy" options like the mounts and the lift kit, all the while leaking press on how great those options are, then shutting down allocations/production shortly after the making the options available here. Oh, well... I guess Porsche doesn't need the business bad enough as I can see no reason why they could not still continue to take orders for spec'd cars only esp. if they really plan on a 2011 model year (as i very much doubt there will be substantial changes to the product b/t '10 & '11). I guess I've got some thinking to do on what direction I now take. Maria's b'day was on the third and we are away for the weekend so we wont see you guys at the Holiday Party - pls say Hi to all for us. And have a great Holiday Season!!

CJ

Alan Smithee

I have been keeping an eye on inventory. There will be cars inbound for the next couple months at least. Minimally opitoned cars are selling, and prices will drop on the ones with silly options, demand being fulfilled in the process. If somebody is unwilling to compromise on their build, they may have to wait until Octoberish to drive a car. But they will get a GT3 if they want one.

If cars actually get scarce, I wouldn't be surprised to see some "bonus" cars show up at dealers. Remember those from the last time 'round?

cello

^ Yes, the "Octoberish" is the rub for me tho but your point is taken. Got'ta attend to the wife as its her weekend ..

mooty

there are many cars on the ground and inbound. but what a lot of us want is a car spec'd the way i want. zero option cars... dealers make a higher % on options, go figure.

TRAKCAR

Exactly what Mooty said.
My RS MSRP is lower than many GT3's. Some like all the options, but for me it takes away value, with a GT3 less is more.

I was lucky to buy an almost zero option GT3, but to spec out my own almost no option RS is worth it.

Alan Smithee

I'm exactly the same way. Even if discounted $20k, I wouldn't buy a GT3 with lighted door sills, adaptive sport seats, etc. (no offense to those that would).

But you are not a GT3 buyer; you have an RS ordered. From what I gather around here, I don't believe Mooty is a GT3 buyer, either; sounds like he is trying to get hold of an RS as well. I think many others fall into that category, myself included (if the stars align).

There seems to be mild panic with the news that there are no spring GT3 alloctions. Truth is, a spring allocation would mean summer delivery. Those that will not compromise will have to wait for a summer allocation for an early 2011 delivery in the fall. In the mean time, for those that are in the market, plenty of buyers will flake on ordered cars coming in the next couple months.