Cayenne and Panamera Help Boost Porsche Sales by 86.4% Compared to Previous Quarter

Even in this harsh economical climate, Porsche sales continue to grow, as the German maker shifted 21,218 units in the first three months of the 2010 short fiscal year (August 1 – December 31). That's an impressive 86.4% growth compared to the same period last year, although Porsche management admits that the prior-year quarter was "relatively weak", so a higher growth rate was expected.

Revenue amounted to €2.06 billion (+80.3%), while the company's operating result reached €395 million for the same three month period.

The new Cayenne fared particularly well with 10,292 units sold (+151%), followed by the Panamera with 5,778 vehicles and a growth rate of 94%. The success of the 4-door coupe is due to the fact that last year it wasn't available on all markets and the six-cylinder model went on sale in May 2010. The 911's sales were also up, reaching 3,130 units (+20.4%), while the Boxster with 1,089 and Cayman with 929 vehicles remained the least coveted Porsches.

The Americas lead in terms of regional sales, up by 82% and totaling 7,268 units, of which 6,632 went to North America. Europe is close behind (7,082), while Asia and the rest of the world are third (6,868), albeit with the biggest growth rate (126%), fueled by the strong demand in China.

"We can be satisfied with the key indicators of the first three months. Porsche AG is continuing on a profitable growth course" said Matthias Müller, chairman of the executive board of Porsche AG.

"Due to the order intake worldwide in the past few months, we expect a good double-digit return on sales in the short fiscal year from August to December 2010. With this current order situation, we also anticipate a good start to the new fiscal year 2011" Lutz Meschke, member of Porsche AG's executive board in charge of finance and procurement, added.

Porsche's sales growth also helped create new jobs, with the company currently employing 13,043 people, a 2.5% increase over July 2010.

By Csaba Daradics

VIDEO: Learn how to Drive the Porsche 911 GT3

So, you bought your first Porsche 911 GT3. Good for you, but can you handle this beast? The Germans refined their rear-engine setup for decades, making each generation of the iconic 911 better than before. Still, there are moments when Stuttgart's best can be a handful.

To avoid this, you can take the GT3 to the Porsche Experience Center at Silverstone and learn from chief driving consultant Gordon Robertson how to tackle tight bends, low friction surfaces and, overall, significantly improve your driving skills. Check out the video after the break to see what Mr. Robertson can teach you. For more information visit "porsche.co.uk/experiencshop".

By Csaba Daradics

_______________________________VIDEO_______________________________

Porsche to Unwrap New or Special Edition Mid-Engine Sports Car at LA Show

This just in; Porsche announced today that it will present a world premiere of "a mid-engine sports car" at next week's Los Angeles Auto Show. The Stuttgart automaker did not get into any details, but unless it's the production version of the 918 Spyder hybrid flagship, our guess would be it's either a special edition or a new version of one of the Boxster roadster or Cayman coupe models.

Alongside the world premiere of the mystery mid-engine sports car, Porsche's LA Show stand will also host two U.S. debuts, the 911 Carrera GTS and the 911 Speedster.

The new 911 Carrera GTS combines the 44 millimetre wider Carrera 4 body of the AWD models including wider track with a classic rear-wheel drive setup, and a upgraded 3.8-liter flat-six with 408 ponies.

The small series production 911 Speedster pays homage to the legendary 356 and comes with a 60 millimetre shorter windscreen and the characteristic double bubble on the convertible-top compartment lid. It also is powered by a 408 hp six-cylinder engine linked to Porsche's PDK double-clutch transmission.

_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Porsche’s “Exclusive” Customization Program turns 25

Porsche started the "Exclusive" individual tailoring program 25 years ago as an option offered to all clients who wanted to make their cars unique. Virtually any customer desire could be fulfilled, the sole prerequisite being that those special choices had to meet technical and qualitative feasibility.

To provide maximum quality, a team of around 100 specialists created a plethora of components and even complete vehicles only by manual work, because they believed that "no machine handles material with as much finesse as human hands".

The same team also takes care of sales, offering customers refined interior equipment or performance enhancements, which, in many cases, have been integrated in the production process of stock Porsches as well.

To properly celebrate its 25th anniversary, Porsche Exclusive created the limited edition 911 Speedster, which pays homage to the original 356 Speedster. Only 356 units of the open-top model will be built.

This is not the first time that Porsche Exclusive has designed a special edition model as in 2009, the division launched the 911 Sport Classic with the distinctive "ducktail" rear wing, reminding fans of the legendary 1973 Carrera RS 2.7.

If you're interested in more special Porsches, take a look at the gallery below.

By Csaba Daradics

_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Porsche to Fully Restore 1973 911 T Coupe and Raffle it off

Under the "Revive the Passion" motto, Porsche Classic began a 12 month restoration project of a 1973 911 T Coupe (US model) on behalf of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) in August 2010. The fully restored classic will be raffled off among PCA members and presented to the winner at the U.S. Porsche Parade in August 2011. The video after the break explains what Porsche Classic is all about and how the cars are being brought back to life.

This T Coupe is a "narrow body" 911, known as the F model, and it's a favorite amongst collectors. It was also delivered in the classic color combination – silver exterior/black interior – and, since it was built in the last model year, its value performance is considered especially high.

In its better days, the 2.4-liter six-cylinder Boxer engine was good for 140HP at 5,600 rpm. Tipping the scale at just above 1 ton (1,050 kg or 2,315 lbs), the 911 T can (and will, once restored) reach a respectable top speed of 205 km/h (127 mph).

By Csaba Daradics

_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Porsche is Reducing Fuel Consumption with every New Model it Introduces

No manufacturer, not even performance orientated Porsche, can ignore the "green wave" that has hit the automotive industry. With hybrids and EVs becoming increasingly popular, it's clear that sports cars have to step it up a notch.

It doesn't really matter to pencil-pushing government officials that, in the real world, high performance vehicles aren't driven as much, so, in the overall scheme of things, they actually pollute a lot less than your suburban folk's Prius. They just want to see numbers.

So, Porsche is going greener with each new model it is launching, the Cayenne being the vanguard of this effort. The Germans achieved significant fuel savings in the New European Driving Cycle (or NEDC), ranging from 13 to 23% for all available model series in comparison with their predecessors. This means all Porsches using naturally aspirated engines consume 0.5 to 0.6 less liters of fuel per 100 km.

The Stuttgart firm's engineers achieved this by switching over to direct fuel injection and adopting newer transmissions like the PDK dual-clutch auto and the Tiptronic S eight-speed automatic. Other measures taken to make Porsche as green as ever are massive weight savings (i.e. 185 kg/408 lbs for the new Cayenne Turbo) - and we'll be seeing more of that in future models.

The 911 Carrera with PDK consumes only 9.8 lt/100 km (24 US mpg), while the Boxster S and the Cayman S do with 9.4 liters per 100km (25 US mpg).

The Cayenne is even more frugal, with the Cayenne S Hybrid really shining on this task. Good for a total output of 380 hp (283 kW), Porsche's hybrid is almost as powerful as the previous generation Cayenne S (385 hp/287 kW), yet it returns a combined 8.2 lt/100 km (28.7 US mpg) representing a 40% gain in fuel economy with CO2 emissions of 200 g/km. Wealthy tree-huggers rejoice.

By Csaba Daradics

_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________