Porsche aims for 40 per cent sales boost

PORSCHE Cars Australia has set its sights on topping last year’s record-setting sales run by aiming to put a total of 4000 new vehicles on the road by year’s end, according to managing director Sam Curtis.

Last year saw the Stuttgart-based sportscar-maker sell an unprecedented 2812 units, and in the first six months of this year Porsche has already managed to sell 2070 cars and SUVs, putting it on track to eclipse 2014’s record.

The 2015 sales targets was revealed at the opening of a new dealership in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster, with another Porsche Centre planned to launch in Townsville northern Queensland within the next few weeks, bringing the total number of national dealerships to 14.

Speaking to GoAuto after the opening of the Doncaster site, Mr Curtis said Porsche Cars Australia is in a great position to break sales records and the surge in demand is due to timing of key models.

“We will have doubled Porsche sales in just two years,” he said.

“That’s a phenomenal achievement. The car business is all about having the right product in the marketplace at the right time and at the right price point.”

Numbers, however, are not important to Porsche with Mr Curtis conceding that it is business as usual for the premium brand.

“Target for future is not necessarily about numbers – the market will decide what the right numbers are for Porsche,” he said.

“We are not doing things a whole lot differently. We are carefully managing our stock levels and ensuring that customers who place orders for our cars receive continual updates on their order status.”

However, the rapid increase in sales is expected to slow at some point in the future, with Mr Curtis conceding that Porsche should be prepared for when demand softens.

“Currently, we are experiencing significant growth and we hope to remain steady,” he said.

“This level of growth comes across every blue moon so while we can be a bit bullish about what we have achieved in the last two years, we need to be mindful that this exceptional rate of growth will have to ease at some point.”

Despite record sales, stock supplies are the biggest hurdle facing the German car-maker, with customers who placed orders on the popular Macan SUV late last year only starting to receive deliveries in the coming months.

“We have secured additional production allocation for Macan, which has helped bring orders down to more acceptable levels,” Mr Curtis said.

“Macan continues to be in strong demand and I am happy with the extra production allocation we have been able to secure.”

James Bergmuller, chairman of Preston Motors Group which owns Porsche Centre Doncaster, said at the dealership opening that stock levels were not an immediate concern.

“We’ve been very fortunate, you know opening a new dealership, Porsche did give us some stock so we could actually trade from day one,” Mr Bergmuller said.

“I think we did 48 Porsches in the first month, which was exceptional.

“We couldn’t deliver them all because of supply, but interest has been very strong.

“There’s no doubt we might lose some deals along the way because people aren’t prepared to wait, but it’s one of those brands you can’t substitute. It’s a Porsche, it’s got the prestige, it’s got the quality, and everyone wants to have one.”