"Two and a half tons of hubris", while the VW Touareg "looks like a serious player".

"Perhaps the most startling design aspect of this giant vehicle is the utter banality of the overall shape". It goes on to describe the P-fish lines as having no charisma, cheapened by add-on chrome, with superfluous and inelegant bumps on the corners, characterless tail lamps, and lumpy fenders.

"...it is hard for me to work up much enthusiasm over an ugly Porsche that weighs three and a third as much as my 356, that has no redeeming individual style, and that seems both incredibly cynical and desperately late to market, entering just as the wave is cresting."

Other then that he really liked it ...as I've said from the beginning - ugly will always be ugly.

 

Everybody has their opinion, some people like it, some people don't.

Who cares what automobile magazine says about the Cayenne?

What matters is what the consumers think...and based on the pre-sales figures I've been seeing...the consumer LIKES IT.

 

True, taste is personal, but I find it interesting that you can't find one review that raves about the design - other then the interior. It may sell out the initial 12,500 units in NA, but what about over time? Does it even matter?

You figure at an average $75K per unit, that grosses $937.5 mm ($1.875B if they sell all 25K units). Depending on the development costs, I wonder how this impacts the profit picture. You have to take into account plant, tooling, design development etc...

Oh well, whatever...but to my eye the P-fish design leaves a lot to be desired.

Have a great week...

 

We will have to wait and see what it looks like. I am two of those presales (have deposits down at two dealers), but based on the pricing for a TT, I doubt I will buy it. In my opinion, Porsche overpriced the Cayenne for the market. For about $100k fully loaded, there are a lot better ways to spend my money than on a first year SUV that is significantly more expensive than other similar SUVs.

 

It will be interesting to profile actual buyers. My feeling is that many will differ considerably from what one would call "regular" Porsche buyers.

It is a different type of vehicle that will attract a different kind of buyer. But, like the man said, I could find a whole lot better ways to get rid of 100k without helping to line the pockets of the Porsche family....

 

I think the buyer will be one who wants exclusivity and and the wow factor of an exotic. If this is the case Porsche will be screwed because the MB G Series and the Hummer are both a lot cheaper and are a lot more "exotic" . I think serious SUV buyers (if you can call them that) will stick with the BMW X and Land Rover SUVs. I will say it again, I am the ideal target buyer for the Cayenne and Porsche just lost me by missing the mark on the pricing. Maybe I will change my tune when I see and drive it, but I seriously doubt it. Hmmm, when does the BMW X7 come out?

 

[quote]I think serious SUV buyers (if you can call them that) will stick with the BMW X and Land Rover SUVs.<hr></blockquote>

Totally agree Ibanez...the only buyers the P-fish will attract will be current P-car owners with exceptional net worth, and other high net folks wanting to make a "mine's a Porsche" (that's one syllable of course )statement...and there probably are 12,500 of those folks in NA. Are there 12,500 of those in Europe?

Non-brand loyal potential buyers (and those with more realistic discretionary income) have plenty of ways to fulfill their "grocery getting/mall tripping" SUV duties. The BMW "mystic" offers more "perceived panache" with the neighborhood Jones (read: snob appeal), and the Rover has that proven "tough-yet-civialized" image. And at the turbo's price even the MB G-wagon is affordable.

The "average" NA buyer (who actually tow stuff) will stick to GM and FoMoCo products. The next tranche is the Lexus/Acura/3.0 X5/ML 320 crowd - which is VWs focus (and I predict they will succeed in this target market -and end up selling more units). If you really need to go off-roader the H2 (as ugly as it is) provides serious bang-for-the-buck.

Porsche is going after the highest profit/unit segment (which is commendable, if you actually feel compelled to build an SUV) - to bad they blew it on the exterior design.

Have a great week...

 

Understand all the concern on styling...but how about another angle.
Porsche'suv offers up quite a techno stew which essentially lets you roll a decent gt and a good off road vehicle into one hunk of metal.

H1 Hummers style was not a strong point(although being a brute may really be a stong style).But it delevered unmatched capabilities./

The Porche SUV seems to be on a similar roadk,where functionality will sell it over looks.

Those huge hulking suvs...just dont make it in the woods where I travel...too big and will not fit beteen trees. P -suv has nice sized pkg...and promises to make getting to my ranch as much fun as riding around on it.(right now I use a suburban to tow a jeep up to the ranch each time we go up).Thoughts of a nice entertaing sporty ride followed up by some pretty decent off road capabilities make the P-suv functionally interesting. The pkg is basically a box...like just about all suvs...BMW the exception. But the Bimmer lacks any serious off road credentials and has less room than a ford explorer. So there might be a decent p suv market dominated by people who are really not motivated principally by style...