Sales debate

How is the Porsche marketplace coping with the coronavirus pandemic?

It’s the first time we’ve studied the same ‘sales debate’ topic for two issues in a row at Total 911 but, with the exceptional circumstances we find ourselves living under currently, we felt it good value to see how the Porsche marketplace has reacted to implications surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

As we reported last issue, with governments around the world advising us to continue to stay at home for the spring and early summer months, the global economy was brought to a relative standstill. This economic ‘standstill’ largely filtered through to the automotive marketplace: lockdowns made it extremely difficult for buyers, who were unable to go and look at prospective purchases in person, though dealers were able to provide video walk-arounds to combat this.

Some transactions were going through though and, now that lockdowns have slightly eased, the opportunity is again present for buyers to, well, buy cars. So are they doing it? One prominent Uk-based specialist told Total 911 they’d just had their best-ever month – reasoning that a lot of their stock was going abroad, where shipping was still available and where personal inspection of stock wasn’t necessary. But is this sort of activity the exception or the norm right now?

“People are still buying cars,” says Paul Stephens, owner of the eponymously named Porsche specialists in Suffolk, UK. “I think there’s been some pent-up buyer frustration out there during the lockdown, which has led to an upturn in enquiries now, but I do think we’ll see a further market correction in the coming months as prices soften.”

However, Karl Meyer, whose business, 2911, sits in the middle between consumers and dealers by helping you get the best price for your Porsche when it comes to selling, says generally things are pretty slow. “Dealers aren’t buying cars and until recently manufacturers weren’t even building cars. Transactions are happening, but we’re definitely seeing a softening in prices of cars past the £200K mark.” Meyer says that the market is otherwise holding, with no sliding of values en-masse.

It’s clear there are varying takes on what is happening currently, but all our specialists agree there will be changes ahead in the coming months. You can be sure Total 911 will keep you abreast of the market as it adapts…