Porsche to limit Macan sales

Record sales of the Cayenne ahead of its midlife makeover later this year will prevent the all-new Macan from becoming Porsche's top-selling model this year.

This is despite 600 customer orders and a six-month waiting list for the German sports car brand's new baby SUV, which lowers the price of entry to the Porsche family to $84,900.

Speaking at this week's launch of the Macan ahead of first customer deliveries next month, Porsche Cars Australia's new managing director Sam Curtis said the company could easily sell 1200 Macans and 1200 Cayennes this year, which itself would represent another annual sales record for the brand here.

Instead, Porsche will limit local Macan supplies to about 800 this year, in an attempt to maintain the exclusivity of the cheapest Porsche.

"It's not about volume," said Curtis, who confirmed that customers who order a Macan now "would be lucky to get one this side of Christmas.

"We'll make sure we'll build one less than we can sell. Just because we could probably sell 1600 [Macans], it doesn't mean we'll do that."

Curtis said the Macan's main reason for being was to bring new customers to the brand – as evidenced by its marketing slogan 'Fast track the dream' – but said Porsche stopped short of advertising drive-away pricing, which was deemed "inappropriate".

"We chose not to go out with price positioning – it's more about branding," he said.

So far the strategy appears to be working, with more than 70 per cent of orders so far coming from first-time Porsche buyers, and many of those being former customers of the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Lexus RX.

Of the remaining 30 per cent, the vast majority were not trading in Porsche vehicles, but adding the Macan to their garage alongside a 911, Panamera or Cayenne.

"We're clearly targeting new customers with Macan," said Curtis. "So it's clearly very incremental."

So far most Macan buyers (46 per cent) were opting for the diesel, with 21 per cent choosing the top-shelf Macan Turbo and the remainder of sales going to the less powerful Macan S.

Curtis ruled out the addition of four-cylinder engines to the local Macan line-up in the short-term, saying the new entry-level 2.0-litre petrol Macan recently revealed in China was "inappropriate for our market".

However, he admitted Porsche would be "silly not to look at" entry-level petrol- and diesel-powered Macans priced under $80,000 when sales slow later in the vehicle's model life.

Asked if that would occur before the Macan's midlife facelift in a few years' time, Curtis said: "Potentially. We'd have to consider that when supply frees up, but sales wouldn't be incremental."

In the meantime, Porsche will roll out further Macan derivatives, likely including GTS and perhaps Turbo S models.

"The choice of model variants will be wider than it is at the moment," confirmed Curtis, who said a three-door 'coupe' version of the Macan, to rival Range Rover's popular Evoque, was "not on the radar".

Meantime, Porsche is also seeing unprecedented demand for the Cayenne, which is now out of production in the lead up to the world debut of a facelifted model – with the option of a plug-in hybrid powertrain from the Panamera for the first time – at the Paris motor show on October 2.

Last year Porsche sold a record 1120 Cayennes in Australia (up 30 per cent on 2012), helping it to a new overall record of 1905 sales. So far this year Cayenne sales are up a further 30 per cent and, with all models up except for the Panamera, Porsche sales are ahead almost 40 per cent overall.

"This month will be our best month ever for Cayenne and 2014 promises to be another record year. We're looking for the best number possible without forcing sales, which is in contrast to our German competitors," said Curtis, who worked for Mercedes-Benz prior to becoming Porsche's new Australian MD on May 1.

Porsche's 12 Australian dealers have invested a total of $45 million in preparation for the Macan, at least 20,000 examples of which will be built in Germany this year.

Curtis defended the expansion of Porsche's SUV range, and the fact the famed Zuffenhausen sports car brand's two top-selling models were now five-door wagons.

"Much has been said about Porsche... That fact is we're building more SUVs than ever before and that we're moving away – supposedly – from our traditional sports car roots. I pay lip service to that because there's plenty of sports car DNA in every Porsche that we build.

"Regardless of how many doors our vehicles have or where the engine is positioned, we build sports cars and we always will. Every press report I read clearly confirms it is the sportiest SUV in its segment. Macan will hold the sporting mantle in the compact SUV segment, without doubt. 

"We don't just build sports cars, but the Porsche sports car DNA is clearly evident in every car we make. No matter what, Porsche is always going to be a sports car maker, through and through."