Porsche expects 2012 to be another record year
Volume will grow by over 6.5%, says sport car maker's sales boss
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Porsche expects its new-car sales to grow by more than 6.5 percent in 2012, giving the sports car maker another record year, the brand's sales and marketing chief Bernhard Maier told Automotive News Europe.
Maier said 2011 was the best sales year in the brand's history to date. Interim figures show Porsche's 2011 global sales at more than 115,000 units, compared with 97,000 in 2010. The company's previous all-time sales high was in 2007 when the brand sold 103,000 units.
Maier said forecasts show that the total global car market may grow by 6.5 percent to 66 million units in 2012, unless there is an economic disaster. "Whatever happens, we want to grow faster than the market," Maier said.
Porsche expects continued growth in the United States, its largest single market. In 2011, the brand's U.S. sales increased by just under 15 percent to nearly 29,000 units.
"We will continue to grow in 2012, especially during the second half of the year when the new 911 is fully available in North America," Maier said.
In 2011, Asia and Russia were big growth markets for Porsche with sales up 67 percent in China, 76 percent in southeast Asia and over 40 percent in Russia.
By 2018, Porsche plans to expand its global dealer network to about 1,000 dealers from 700 now, mainly by adding dealers in growth markets such as China and Latin America.
Porsche currently has about 40 dealers in China. The figure will rise to 50 by the end of 2012 and to 80 by 2014.
In Europe, Porsche has 336 dealers. "By the end of 2014, it could be about 400," Maier said.
In 2011, the Cayenne SUV accounted for half of Porsche's global sales. The company's four-seat flagship, the Panamera, contributed more than 27,000 units to overall sales, a 21 percent increase over last year.
