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NEWS
New Cayman no longer a 'toy'
Cheaper, more grown-up new Porsche Cayman to boost sales, including for 911Porsche expects its more affordable new Cayman coupe to be more popular than ever in Australia, where it believes sales of the flagship 911 sports car will be unaffected, despite the closer price gap.
Pricing for the new Cayman was announced late last year ahead of its local release this week, with a lower than usual base price increase of just $400 bringing the cheapest Cayman to $115,000 plus on-road costs.
However, the entry-level 2.7-litre six-speed manual Cayman's admission price was later cut by $8400 to $107,100 as part of a range-wide April 23 price reduction, which also saw the price tag of range-topping 3.4-litre Cayman S reduce by $10,500 to $139,900. Seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic versions cost $5300 extra.
That makes the Cayman closer in price to both the Boxster upon which it's based and Porsche's rear-engined 911 coupe flagship, given prices of the mid-engined roadster were cut by less sizeable $5500 and $6800 (S) margins and 911 prices were slashed by a more generous $22,900 and $19,500 (S).
Porsche expects the keener pricing to attract more customers than the old Cayman, which found anywhere between 150 and 200 buyers annually, but the prestige importer says increased sales of its entry-level coupe won't come at the expense of the 911.
"Sales should at least match what the last car did and go slightly forward from there," said Porsche Cars Australia Managing Director Michael Winkler. "Will there be more cannibalisation? No, but there will be more cross-fertilisation – guys coming in for a Cayman and buying a 911 and vice-versa.
"The Cayman is another cornerstone that creates buzz for the brand and now stands on its own two feet. It's a product in its own right now and I think it'll surprise us.
"It will appeal to a larger group of people, because it has more presence. I don't want to diminish the old car but it was much more of a toy – it's a full-grown sports car now and a genuine alternative in the segment."
Winkler said Porsche remained unconcerned about Cayman sales substituting Boxster sales, since both models were produced on the same new mid-engined platform.
“We always took the view that we didn't care what the mix was between Boxster and Cayman because the purpose of the Cayman was to expand the customer base for the mid-engined platform and that it has done," he said.
“We were afraid the Boxster would have a huge effect on prices of second-hand 911s, but the opposite happened. It brought people to 911s, sales of which went up."
Although a hard-top coupe version of the original Boxster – known internally as the Boxster Coupe – was developed but never released, the first Cayman matched the global sales of the MkII Boxster upon which it was based.
In Australia, Porsche sells far more Boxsters than Caymans but, together, the mid-engined sports cars rival the 911 range for sales, with the Panamera sedan model line a distant third. Of course, the Cayenne SUV is way out in front, with 857 sales accounting for well over half of the 1373 Porsches sold here last year.
Once again Porsche expects the top-shelf S to comprise more than half of all Caymans sold, while 80 per cent are expected to be PDK dual-clutch automatic versions. Expect a hard-core R version of the Cayman to once again top the range, in the second half of the new model's life cycle in about three years.
New options for the MkII Cayman include a multi-function steering wheel ($629), Sportdesign steering wheel ($950), two-tone partial leather seat trim ($1350), BOSE surround sound system ($1450), metallic paint ($1850), Porsche Active Suspension Management ($3390), 19-inch Cayman S alloy wheels ($3390, for the base Cayman), 20-inch Carrera S wheels ($3390), 20-inch Carrera Classic wheels ($4715), Sport Chrono package including launch control ($2428) and Sport Chrono package with dynamic engine mounts ($4790).
The facelifted Panamera, including an all-new plug-in hybrid version, will be the next cab off the Porsche Cars Australia rank in July – the latter priced about $2000 higher than the (non-plugin) Panamera Hybrid it replaces.
"The second-generation Panamera will be launched in the next six weeks," said Winkler. "It will be available in a full plug-in hybrid, which is a really interesting car to drive.
"The S model will be downsized to a turbo six-cylinder engine, albeit with more power and torque. The engine is also lighter than the V8, therefore the whole package feels completely different to drive with that performance potential."
Winkler said the new Panamera long-wheelbase will be directed mainly at the Chinese market, where 90 per cent of its most direct rivals in the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class are sold, although it will be a special-order model in Australia, in both S and Turbo forms.
"I don't expect we'll have a lot of orders – that segment is quite limited here, where they're quite big cars to drive on the road," he said.
Next up will be two hot new additions to the 991-series 911 line-up that are expected to boost sales of the German performance car maker's flagship sports car dramatically here in 2014.
Expect first deliveries of the new 911 Turbo and Turbo S to take place here by December, followed by the new 911 GT3 in January or February.
Despite the fact the 911 GT3 and 911 Turbo in previous generations have never been introduced in such rapid succession, Porsche says it already holds a strong forward-order bank for both new 911 icons from pre-existing owners, with the two models sold out for at least a year.
"We're only 12 months into this generation of 911 with six years to go. Never have the GT3 and Turbo been so close together," said Winkler.
"That will give us a full model proliferation going into next year for the 911. Traditionally, we have done very well with the top-end models, so next year will be a very good year for us with the 911.
"Given the upgrade we've just done with the Boxster and Cayman sports cars, that is one of the best and up-to-date product portfolios Porsche has ever had in the marketplace here.
Expect the latest 911 range to once again include the glass-roofed Targa derivative and range-topping turbocharged rear-wheel drive GT2 firecracker.
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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