Stunning hybrid could be a hard sell
At $845,000 US, Porsche may be pushing the price envelope a little too far with its 918 Spyder
Despite the exalted position it commands in the pantheon of sports cars, despite the legend that surrounds its manifold engineering innovations and, most importantly, despite its incredible triumphs in motor racing (the company boasts more than a dozen Le Mans wins), there is still some question as to how far the Porsche brand can stretch.
For, again, despite its sultry shape, despite its outrageous turn of speed and despite the miracle of electrons-meeting-hydrocarbon that lets the race car-like 918 emulate the frugality of a fuel-sipping subcompact, Porsche is reputedly still having a bit of trouble selling its ultimate speedster. Where the success of Ferrari’s LaFerrari (my God, what an effete name) was almost a foregone conclusion, Porsche has to work at selling its million-dollar supercar.
Indeed, the biggest change to the supercar world of late isn’t its recent focus of fuel economy issues and environmental concerns. Or even the fact that, somehow, despite all the twaddle regarding said environmental issues, the truly greats are managing to squeeze evermore ridiculous amounts of horsepower out of their exotics. No, the big news in the supercar world is that — Gasp! Shock! Horror! — these rolling technological marvels are expected to turn a profit.
No longer can car company executives justify their high-speed boondoggles by the car’s “halo effect” alone; if they don’t end up generating the same percentage profit as their lowlier stablemates, their rubber never hits the road. (Jaguar’s incredible C-X75, for instance, is in stasis for precisely this reason.)
Somewhere, sometime, deep in Porsche’s headquarters, there was a meeting of engineers and accountants where the former detailed all the techno-wizardry they were going to build into the 918. Then the latter responded — calculators and slide rules whirring — with the price they were going to have to charge for all that magic if the car was to be allowed to fill the corporate coffers with the requisite profit. It’s hardly the romantic image of supercar legend, but it is why Porsche needs to sell the 918 at $845,000 US if it wants to make its nut.
It’s a bit of a stretch. Industry insiders have little doubt Porsche could easily move 500 of the superhybrids at that price or, conversely, 918 of them at some less outrageous price — say half a mil. Alas, $775 million (that’s me making sure my calculator and slide rule are still working) seems a profit centre too far, even for Porsche (which, on a per car basis, happens to be the most profitable company in the biz).
This is why we’re seeing Porsche working hard to cajole the independently foolish into the 918. Indeed, Porsche has upped the ante quite a bit in the “presser” department, luring the fabulously wellto-do with test drives of the 918 in exotic locales. Nor are exotic locales the only incentives being ladled on the moneyed and horse power conscious so they might unburden themselves of a million or so bucks. If you put a deposit down on a 918, for instance, you were also gifted the privilege of buying a special “918 Spyder” edition of the 911 Turbo S. Yes, you read that correctly — the “incentive” to buy an $845,000 US car is the exclusive “right” to buy another mondo-expensive, $161,650 US supercar. The rich are indeed different from you and me.
This isn’t the first time Porsche has had problems moving highpriced iron. The 959 may now hold a place in history as exalted as any Ferrari, but back in 1986 it was a hard sell. So, too, the 2005 Carrera GT. One could make the argument — and I would agree — that the GT was hardly worthy of exaltation, but the 959 was a revelation that revolutionized the supercar world.
The incredible irony in all of this is that some Porschephiles still accuse Stuttgart of selling its brand short with some of its latest, lowercost offerings. They roiled against the (bestselling) Cayenne, for instance, and though the braying is a little more subdued with the recent launch of its smaller sibling, the Macan, some diehards are still lamenting the fact that Porsche has — once again, cue the Gasp! Shock! Horror! — produced a pint-sized sport-cute. Never mind that both of its engines are twin-turbocharged and the sportiest boasts 400 horsepower, it is still the end of days.
I can only imagine their alarm when they find out their prized Boxster may also soon be turbocharged (rumours abound of Porsche turbocharged flat fours and small sixes). That these turbocharged Boxsters will be more powerful than ever or that even mighty Ferrari is said to be toying with turbo V6s is unlikely to stop the whinging.
Nonetheless, rest assured that Porsche guards its brand with papal severity. There will be no “baby” Porsche priced lower than the Boxster because the company’s research revealed that would be a model range too far. Nor will there be, despite the success of the Panamera (more Gasp! Shock! Well, you know the rest), a four-door version of the 918, as the blogosphere has rumoured.
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