trickydisco

Porsche revs up results
The Associated Press
November 28, 2007 at 8:26 AM EST
BERLIN — Luxury auto maker Porsche AG said Wednesday that revenue rose almost 15 per cent in the first four months of the year on strong vehicle sales.

The Stuttgart-based auto maker said revenues increased 14.7 per cent on the previous year to €2.36-billion ($3.51-billion U.S.), as vehicle sales rose 18.4 per cent to 30,700 units overall.

The North American market saw sales increase 13.7 per cent to 10,750 vehicles.

The company's fiscal year begins Aug. 1, and the four-month figures were estimated to the end of November.

The Cayenne sport utility vehicle posted the best increase in the period, with sales rising 76 per cent to 13,400 vehicles. Sales of the classic 911, by comparison, were up only 3 per cent to 10,800 vehicles.

Sales of the Boxter, meanwhile, fell by around 17 per cent to 6,500 vehicles.

Porsche said it expects its vehicle sales in the fiscal 2008 to be around the level of the previous year, when it sold 97,515 vehicles.

Shares in Porsche gained one per cent to €1,418.02 in Frankfurt.

theiceman

Wow maybe the Pfaff guys can confirm if those numbers are being reflected in Canada but not what i would have thought. I thought the Cayenne was actually falling off somewhat, I guess facelifts do help. I wonder if they are grouping the Cayman in with the Boxster numbers... oh , not trying to be a smart ***, I am just considering it the same platform.

Pfaff Porsche GM

Here are the results for Canada for both October and YTD.

ATLANTA - November 2, 2007: Porsche Cars North America, Inc., importer and distributor of Porsche sports cars and Cayenne SUVs in the United States and Canada, today announced record sales of 156 for the month of October in Canada, an increase of 18 percent over the same period last year when sales were 132. The previous best October sales were achieved in 2005 when sales were 141.

Cayenne achieved sales of 79 units vs. 65 units sold last October, representing a 22 percent increase. Year-to-date, Cayenne sales saw a 43 percent increase with sales rising to 699 from 490.

With sales of 45, the Porsche 911 showed an increase of 15 percent over last October sales of 39.

Through the first ten months of 2007, Porsche brand sales in Canada are up 6 percent at 1,763 vs. last year's total of 1,659.

In addition, dealers sold 42 Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned vehicles in October.

Model Month to Date Year to Date
Current Year Prior Year Current Year Prior Year
Boxster 14 8 158 191
Boxster S 4 8 102 126
Cayman 10 4 99 16
Cayman S 4 8 100 247
ALL BOXSTER/CAYMAN 32 28 459 580

911 Carrera Coupe 3 2 48 55
911 Carrera S 3 4 62 96
Carrera Cabriolet 2 3 30 70
Carrera S Cabriolet 2 6 60 82
Carrera 4 Coupe 2 1 26 31
Turbo Coupe 5 13 90 73
Carrera 4S Coupe 9 4 87 77
911 Targa 4 1 0 12 0
911 Targa 4S 2 0 29 0
Carrera 4 Cabriolet 1 0 17 29
Carrera 4S Cabriolet 3 3 67 64
Turbo Cabriolet 7 0 22 0
911 GT3 2 3 22 3
911 GT3 RS 3 0 33 0
All 911 Carrera models (996) 0 0 0 5
ALL 911 45 39 605 585

Cayenne Tiptronic 41 16 282 181
Cayenne 2 0 5 3
Cayenne S 28 23 268 204
Cayenne Turbo 8 0 111 6
Cayenne Turbo S 0 0 6 33
Cayenne Titanium 0 26 27 63
ALL CAYENNE 79 65 699 490

CARRERA GT 0 0 0 4


GRAND TOTALS 156 132 1763 1659

Certified Pre-Owned 42 26 363 306

imcarthur

In Pano pg 70 European Windows:

EUROPEAN WINDOWS

Porsche's upward path in the world's automotive markets continued in the first eight months, with a total of 68,561 cars produced in Zuffenhausen, Leipzig and at Valmet. This compares with 65,190 in the same period of 2006, and it has to be said, emphasized even, that the growth is due to the popularity of the 2007 model year Cayenne. Production figures indicate a significant rise from 19,925 units in eight months of '06 to 28,430 in the same period of '07...and by the way, the Cayenne was out of production for three months, from November to February, for the change-over to the cleaner, more powerful model that has been very well received in all global markets.

You can work it out that production has taken a hit elsewhere. Not the 911, which showed a small increment from 24,317 to 24,661, rather the Boxster and Cayman models which slumped from a combined total of 20,948 to 15,472. The Cayman coupe, despite being the newer model, took a larger hit dropping by 4500 units in eight months.

imcarthur

Oh . . .

And the only Porsche I saw on the road in China during our grand wedding expedition last February, was a Cayenne in our hotel parking lot in Xi'an.

Ian

theiceman

yeah defiinitely looks like the boxster/cayman took a hit over prior year. I thought that one would soar for a while being the " entry level" Porsche that even none enthusiasts could slip into under a nice lease package.

trickydisco

Porsche to Shutter Plant for 7 Days as Car Sales Fall
By Andreas Cremer

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE, the maker of the 911 sports car, said it will suspend production at its main plant for seven days to help cope with dwindling auto sales.

Porsche fell the most in a month in Frankfurt trading after the company said today it will idle the factory in Stuttgart, where it is based. Production was also halted for one day last week, the carmaker said in a statement, without specifying on which days the other closures will fall.

“I don’t think that Porsche’s customers have suddenly fallen into poverty, but they’re reacting to the fact that it may be inappropriate to pull up in a new Porsche when their neighbor’s house is being foreclosed,” said Christoph Stuermer, a Frankfurt-based analyst with research firm IHS Global Insight. “It’s an appropriate reaction.”

Wages won’t be affected by the shutdown because of overtime working already banked by workers, Porsche said. Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest carmaker, said earlier it may halt production at its hometown plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, for more than three weeks starting next month to help cope with shrinking markets. Porsche has a controlling stake in the larger company.

“Porsche, too, cannot escape the current downward trend in the automobile industry,” the company said in its statement, reiterating that unit sales in the year ending July 31 won’t match the 98,652 cars delivered in fiscal 2008.

Porsche declined 5.66 euros, or 10 percent, to 50.34 euros and was trading at 51.83 euros as of 4:37 p.m. local time. The stock has lost 62 percent this year, giving a market value of 9 billion euros ($12 billion).

To contact the reporter on this story: Andreas Cremer in Berlin at acremer@bloomberg.net.

trickydisco

Porsche Loses Suit Over Volkswagen Minority Rights

By Karin Matussek


Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE’s bid to take over Volkswagen AG was dealt a potential setback when a German court refused to strike down rules in VW’s charter that protect the German state of Lower Saxony’s voting rights.

The court in Hanover, Germany, rejected a Porsche suit that sought to overturn a Volkswagen corporate rule that gives shareholders with a 20 percent stake the power to block major company decisions. Presiding Judge Reinhard Saathoff criticized Porsche’s effort to compare the case to a European Union court ruling on a German law that provides the same voting rights.

A company charter and a national law “aren’t the same and we cannot treat them the same,” Saathoff said today. “If Porsche would interpret a ruling of my court as it did interpret the EU court ruling, I would be pretty mad.”

Porsche is trying to get rid of the protections that favor Lower Saxony, which owns 20.1 percent of VW stock, as it proceeds with its plan to take control of Europe’s largest carmaker. The European Court of Justice last year ordered Germany to modify the country’s so-called Volkswagen law that gave Lower Saxony special rights.

Porsche argues the EU ruling forces Volkswagen to delete the 20 percent veto rights from the charter.

‘Incomprehensible’

The German court today further granted a request by Lower Saxony to delete two VW charter provisions, a concession by the German state in light of last year’s EU court decision. Lower Saxony will no longer have two guaranteed board seats in the charter, and a limitation of voting rights of shareholders to 20 percent regardless of the actual stake will be dropped.

Today’s cases centered on this year’s annual VW shareholder meeting, where both Porsche and Lower Saxony tried to adapt the corporate charter according to their readings of the EU court ruling. Porsche wanted to get rid of the guaranteed seat, the voting limitations and the veto right. Lower Saxony sought to delete the guaranteed seat and the voting limitations.

Both companies’ motions failed to get majority support at the meeting and both filed suits. The court today said Porsche violated its duties as a Volkswagen shareholder when it didn’t vote for Lower Saxony’s plan.

“The ruling is incomprehensible to us,” said Dirk Erat, a spokesman for Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche. “Porsche will study the verdict in full and appeal.”

Porsche Stake

“Today’s ruling is a 100 percent victory for us,” Lower Saxony Finance Minister Hartmut Moellring said. “We could have had this result without the costs of a lawsuit, which fortunately we don’t have to bear now.”

Peik von Bestenbostel, a spokesman for Wolfsburg, German- based Volkswagen, declined to comment.

The court sent another part of Porsche’s suit, seeking to annul the rules, to a court in Braunschweig, Germany, which may have to rule again on the issue.

Shareholders of German corporations who own 25 percent plus one share can block major decisions, including charter amendments. The required percentage for the veto rights can be changed by shareholders in the charter. At Volkswagen, the percentage was set by both the German law and the charter.

Porsche said last month that it holds shares and options equal to a 74.1 percent stake in Volkswagen. The company said yesterday that while it’s “increasingly unlikely” the stake will surpass 50 percent this year, it will take control as soon as possible and is committed to owning 75 percent before 2010.

Porsche rose 2.51 euros, or 4.8 percent, to 55 euros as of 1:105 p.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has dropped 60 percent this year. Volkswagen rose 0.7 percent to 296 euros.

EU Opposition

The German federal government is siding with Lower Saxony, claiming that the EU court ruling forced Germany only to drop Lower Saxony’s guaranteed board seats and the limitation on voting rights.

A new version of the Volkswagen law which kept the veto rights at 20 percent hasn’t won over EU Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, who has threatened to take the issue back to court.

Germany today received a final warning from EU regulators that they will sue to overturn state veto power at Volkswagen, a move that aids Porsche. The European Commission in Brussels said it’s a step away from taking the German government back to court for failing to modify the Volkswagen law as ordered by EU judges more than a year ago.

The Volkswagen charter was approved in 1960 when the federal and state governments held 100 percent of the company before it went public. Porsche claims the charter rule is void because the shareholders were forced to keep it under the Volkswagen law.

Today’s cases are 21 O 61/08 (Porsche suit) and 21 O 52/08 (Lower Saxony suit) at the Hanover Regional Court.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Hanover via the Berlin newsroom at kmatussek@bloomberg.net

trickydisco

Porsche May Face Problems on VW Options, Analysts Say
By Alexis Xydias

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE, which earned six times more through Volkswagen AG derivatives than by selling cars this year, may run into trouble over the options that helped it build its stake in Europe’s largest carmaker, analysts said.

Porsche’s tactic is a “daunting mix of risk and reward” that may force it to buy Volkswagen shares if they fall toward 200 euros, leaving the maker of the 911 sports car highly indebted, Citigroup Inc. said in a report dated yesterday. Separately, Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. said Porsche faces “material” risk should Volkswagen shares near 242 euros.

Analysts have speculated that Porsche has financed the acquisition of calls by selling puts, which would force the carmaker to buy VW shares if the contracts are exercised. Porsche said this week that its Volkswagen options bets produced a gain of 6.83 billion euros ($8.8 billion) in fiscal 2008. The company made 1 billion euros from selling vehicles.

Are Porsche’s management “the smartest guys in the room” or “in trouble?” wrote Max Warburton, an analyst at Bernstein in London, in a note today. “In our view, Porsche is still in control, but possibly at considerable risk until the put options apparent in its balance sheet expire by July 2009.”

‘Full Control’

A call option gives the holder the right to buy an underlying security at a given price and by a set date, while a put gives the holder the right to sell. Porsche said Oct. 26 that it had acquired cash-settled calls equivalent to 31.5 percent of VW, an announcement that caused Volkswagen shares to more than quadruple.

Porsche shares fell 3.68 euros, or 6.8 percent, to 50.62 euros in Frankfurt. Volkswagen dropped 14.67 euros, or 5 percent, to 280.33 euros.

Stuttgart-based Porsche “seems to need full control of the Volkswagen share price to extricate itself without cost from its huge apparent put liabilities, which appear to become onerous” if VW stock approaches the estimated strike price of 200 euros, Citigroup analyst John Lawson wrote.

Citigroup reduced its price estimate on Porsche shares to 50 euros from 57 euros and reiterated a “sell” recommendation.

“There seems to be a looming possibility that Porsche would face first big margin calls and the exercise against it of puts if the Volkswagen share price fell,” Citigroup’s note said. We “see Porsche’s building significant debt as it ploughs ahead,” the brokerage added.

Bernstein has a “market-perform” recommendation on Porsche.

Other brokerages revised their estimates for Porsche lower after the carmaker told analysts yesterday that sales will have a “significant” decline in the current year.

Deutsche Bank AG reduced its price estimate by 23 percent to 66 euros. Oddo Securities cut its share-price forecast for the shares to 78 euros from 88 euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Xydias in London at axydias@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 28, 2008 12:07 EST

trickydisco

Porsche Faces Complaint Over Volkswagen Trades, Prosecutor Says


By Karin Matussek

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- German prosecutors have received complaints seeking a criminal probe of “responsible people” at Porsche SE to determine if there was any manipulation of trading of Volkswagen AG shares.

“We and a few other German prosecutors’ offices have received several complaints over the issue,” Bettina Vetter, the spokeswoman for prosecutors in Stuttgart, Germany, said in an interview today without identifying who filed the complaints. “We now have to examine whether they warrant any investigation and also which prosecutors would have jurisdiction in such a matter.”

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, rose almost fourfold in Frankfurt trading at the end of October after Stuttgart-based Porsche announced that it had acquired options to increase its stake to 74.1 percent. The announcement spurred short-sellers to buy from a shrinking pool of stock to close their positions.

Germany’s financial market regulator BaFin is probing the Volkswagen trading.

“We have always acted strictly in line with each and every law and rule in this matter,” said Porsche spokesman Frank Scholtys. The company isn’t aware of the complaints, he said.

Porsche, the maker of the 911 sports car, said last month that while it’s “increasingly unlikely” its Volkswagen stake will surpass 50 percent this year, it will take control as soon as possible and is committed to owning 75 percent before 2010.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Berlin at kmatussek@bloomberg.net

trickydisco

As Sales Fall, German Carmakers Cut Production and Hope to Avoid Layoffs

New York Times
By CARTER DOUGHERTY
Published: December 3, 2008
FRANKFURT — German automakers may not be facing the existential crisis that has pushed their American competitors to seek a government bailout. But the signature industry in Germany is warily bracing itself for a potentially lengthy downturn.

All the major German automakers, from Volkswagen to Porsche, are scaling back production for longer than usual during the holiday season.

They are also trying to dodge the politically fraught topic of layoffs, although most analysts believe that they can be avoided only for a few more months.

Though German automakers are not hemorrhaging money like their American counterparts, auto sales have crashed since the financial crisis exploded anew in mid-September.

For most of this year, sales appeared to be matching those of 2007.

But in November, sales plunged 18 percent, according to the German Association of the Automotive Industry. Exports, the lifeblood of German manufacturers, also stalled in November as big emerging markets like Russia and China no longer protected carmakers from evaporating demand elsewhere.

“The automobile market has taken a dive that has never before happened in this form and with this speed,” the association’s president, Matthias Wissmann, said on Wednesday. “The crisis is not limited to one country but is hitting every important market worldwide.”

Porsche’s chief executive, Wendelin Wiedeking, has said that the industry is operating “auf sicht,” a German phrase connoting the desire to plan only as far as the eye can see. For a business that relies on long-term prospects to justify heavy fixed costs, that is a heavy burden, analysts said.

Since Germany is in a sense Detroit writ large, the stakes could hardly be higher.

According to the association, the auto industry itself employed about 750,000 Germans in 2007. Counting thousands of suppliers and dealers, the association said, that means more than five million people — one in five German workers — are tied to the auto industry.

A holiday pause is standard in Germany, but all the major manufacturers are extending their assembly line shutdowns to avoid a big buildup of inventory. Daimler was the first to announce longer breaks, in October. BMW has also cut one of the two shifts from its Leipzig factory.

That they are not already dealing with Germany’s tough unions over layoffs is a testament to the much more flexible labor policies that have been embraced in the industry over the last decade, analysts said.

BMW is laying off about 5,000 temporary workers. At Daimler and Porsche, workers were allowed to set up “flex-time accounts,” where time worked above the contract maximum of 35 hours is stored without pay. When they work less than the maximum, they can tap the accounts to top up their paychecks.

Porsche, generally regarded as the most flexible of the German automakers, has not escaped the squeeze. It halted production at its flagship factory in Stuttgart for the first time on Nov. 21, and is planning seven more shutdowns through the end of January.

The industry’s best hope, which most analysts consider rather rosy, is that demand in the United States levels off and leads a global rebound in the second half of 2009.

“Stuttgart is gazing across the big pond,” said Willi Diez, director of the Institute for Automotive Research in Nürtingen. “The hope, however small, is that the American market will stabilize next year.”

Just as Ford Motor has worried about the disruptions that possible bankruptcies at General Motors and Chrysler would have on its business, German automakers are also nervously watching the fate of the Detroit automakers.

BMW churns out premium vehicles for the American market from a factory in Spartanburg, S.C., and automaker bankruptcies “would have an effect on our suppliers,” said a BMW spokesman, Marc Hassinger.

Still, Mr. Wissmann, the auto association president and former minister of research and technology, got ahead of the chief executives by broaching the subject of jobs on Wednesday, saying that “more adjustment cannot be ruled out.”

Even a hint of such talk could be unsettling in Germany because the automakers have given unions employment guarantees for the next few years.

“It’s not the right time to spread panic among the employees,” said Kai Bliesener, a spokesman for IG Metall, the most powerful German union. “They are already unnerved by the endless bad news.”

Still, analysts said, automakers will have to address the question of downsizing their work force soon.

“Nobody’s planning that now,” Mr. Diez, the institute director, said, “but by the spring this discussion will be there.”

trickydisco

Porsche Is ‘In Control,’ May Get VW in 2009, Goldman Sachs Says

By Alexis Xydias

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE will probably achieve its objective of buying 75 percent of Volkswagen AG in 2009, paving the way for full control of the carmaker, even as vehicle sales fall and the economy slows, Goldman, Sachs & Co. analysts said.

Porsche may pay an average price of 116 euros ($146) a share for the VW stake, the analysts said in a research report dated yesterday. The sport-car maker may then reach a “domination and profit-sharing agreement next year,” pending a favorable ruling by the Europe Court of Justice.

The analysts, led by London-based Stefan Burgstaller, reiterated a “buy” recommendation on Porsche shares, while cutting their 12-month price estimate to 70 euros from 85 euros. Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche, maker of the 911 sports car, rose as much as 3.41 euros, or 7.5 percent, to 48.86 euros in Frankfurt trading. Volkswagen rose as much as 8.20 euros, or 2.8 percent, to 302 euros in Frankfurt.

“We believe Porsche remains in control of the process and that funding the acquisition cost, while challenging, will be possible,” the analysts wrote. “Key potential catalysts” for the shares include an “improvement in the economic outlook in general and motor vehicle sales in particular” and “a favorable ruling by the European Court of Justice on the VW law.”

Porsche has amassed a 42.6 percent stake in Volkswagen and has said it holds call options equivalent to 31.5 percent of Europe’s largest carmaker. Still, Germany’s upper house of parliament last month ratified the so-called Volkswagen law that grants veto power at the carmaker to the state of Lower Saxony and hinders Porsche’s bid to take full control.

Challenge to VW Law

European Union Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has threatened to challenge the Volkswagen law again in the European Court of Justice.

Porsche Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking said Nov. 26 that the company may no longer take 50 percent ownership of Volkswagen this year as planned, as the global economy contracts and sales decline. At least two analysts also said last month that Porsche may run into trouble over the options that helped it build the stake in Volkswagen, forcing it to buy shares at higher than market price and increasing Porsche’s debt.

Analysts have speculated that Porsche has financed the acquisition of calls by selling put options, which would force the carmaker to buy VW shares if the contracts are exercised.

Porsche said last month that its Volkswagen options produced a gain of 6.83 billion euros in fiscal 2008. The company made 1 billion euros from selling vehicles.

Calls give the holder the right to buy an underlying security at a given price and by a specific date, while puts convey the right to sell.

trickydisco

The Canadian Press
December 12, 2008 at 7:45 AM EST
MISSISSAUGA — Porsche Cars Canada says it won't have a display at the Toronto auto show in 2009 as it re-evaluates its marketing strategies.

The automaker says it wants to find “better, more targeted ways” to reach potential customers and must look beyond auto shows.

Porsche Canada marketing director Jasmin Rawlinson says the Toronto auto show is important and the company “did not take this decision lightly.”

The auto show runs from Feb. 13 to 22 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Rogers Centre.

Nissan recently said it is pulling out of the Detroit and Chicago auto shows, citing the tough economy and the lack of new vehicles to unveil.

Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Rolls-Royce and Suzuki will also skip the Detroit show next month as automakers trim their budgets in a difficult economy.

Pfaff Tuning GM

Pfaff Tuning will be at the Auto show and we will have Porsche's on display......... we will wave the P-car flag

theiceman

just leave the Audis at home ... just like they are doing in ALMS ...