← Back to context

Comment by ggm

8 hours ago

I think a lot of people are missing a point here. Cars are not (just) use-values. They are expression of desire. They are, for some brands, classic Veblen Goods.

Porche possibly could sell more by putting the price up

They put their marque behind EV and Hybrid. It worked. Their brand sold well. This is in contradistinction to vendors who won't think about this market niche in positives, but are being dragged into it.

This is true for quite a number of brands of vehicles. Also I don't understand what a modern Porsche is. Porsche to me was always a Rear Engined, (normally) RWD sports car i.e. the 911. I am personally on the look for a 944 (believe it or not they are cheaper than JDM cars of a similar vintage).

When I see a Porsche SUV, to me that isn't a Porsche. It looks like any other SUV on the road with Porsche badge on it. It akin to someone putting a Apple Sticker over Dell Logo on their laptop.

The same happens when you see a Bentley or Rolls Royce SUV.

> They put their marque behind EV and Hybrid. It worked. Their brand sold well.

They are losing money. Sales are down and they are planning to move back to ICE and are postponing or cancelling EV projects.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/porsche-loses-1-1-billion-220...

  • That article throws out the wild claim “The news comes at a time when EV demand is on the decline across the car world.”

    EV sales increased around 20% last year.

Did it work? I'm not sure the financial or car community would agree. They already walked back their BEV strategy:

"Due to market conditions, the new SUV series above the Cayenne, which was previously planned to be fully electric, will initially be offered exclusively as combustion engine and plug-in hybrid at market launch. In addition, current models such as the Panamera and the Cayenne will be available with combustion engines and plug-in hybrids well into the 2030s."

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2025/company/porsche-realign...

They have starkly raised their prices. The base 911 is nearly 40% more expensive than it was in 2020.

  • Yeah, such a weird comment. A 911 Turbo S is over $300k now. This car used to be low 200s for a well optioned one.

    They're taking some kind of Nvidia strategy where they just charge more money for the new generation rather than making the new generation just objectively better than the previous for the same cost. The new GTS basically is a replacement for the old 911 Turbo - and at the same cost...

    I was considering putting in an order for the new generation until the prices were announced. $300k is purely in exotic territory and if I am going down the exotic path, I'll gladly get something far more ridiculous. (Which is now the plan - just waiting for a carb legal one to appear on the market)

    • > where they just charge more money for the new generation rather than making the new generation just objectively better than the previous for the same cost.

      Well, the new T-hybrid thing is really cool. But I'm not someone who spends $100k+ on a car.

      1 reply →

This is pretty much exactly what they’re doing. They even admit in TFA that their dedication to the customer experience is part of the reason for declining sales - spending time on quality action rather than immediately profitable ones.