Australian demand for Porsche cars remains strong despite a worsening economic condition and more interest rate rises on the horizon, the company says.
Furthermore, while the iconic German sportscar maker is still facing supply issues, it’s starting to see early signs of improvement, which should reduce extended wait times.
Speaking to CarExpert at the launch of the new 911 and Taycan GTS this week, Porsche Australia’s head of public affairs, Chris Jordan, confirmed the brand’s ongoing strong position in market.
“We still see strong demand,” Jordan said in regard to the economic challenges.
“I think one factor that we are always looking at is perhaps not with the economy, but how long people are willing to wait, and while the entire market is supply-constrained and there are waits across the board, then I think a lot of people are prepared to wait a long time…
“But in terms of demand and people coming in, we still see every week that new orders are coming in and demand is strong, but it’s a case of how long people are willing to wait.”
As for the ongoing challenges of supply and demand, Porsche Australia is seeing small signs of improvement as Germany is able to better overcome the specific part shortfalls caused by both the semiconductor issue and the war in Eastern Europe.
“As it has been for a while, demand is really strong and supply is a picture that changes every week, that’s why it’s quite hard to give people a definitive wait time and picture, because what’s the correct answer this week can change the next,” Mr Jordan said.
“The reason its changing a lot is not just the dynamics of the world at the moment but also the counter measures that Germany is putting in place with production.
“f you think about procurement, if there is one item that they are short on, a few weeks later they might have a countermeasure that comes in and they are able to get it again so the supply improves, that’s why instead of publishing a wait time for every model, we encourage people to talk to their Porsche centre.”
The other reason supplies of Porsche vehicles is improving is the Volkswagen Group’s insistence on supplying parts to higher-margin cars from its top-tier brands which include Lamborghini, Bentley and Porsche.
From January to end of May 2022, Porsche Australia sold 2533 cars, up from 2277 in the same period in 2021 – an 11.2 per cent improvement.
In that same timeframe, Volkswagen has gone down 38 per cent, Audi 36.7 per cent, BMW 13.3 per cent, and Mercedes-Benz 17.8 per cent.
