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"Porsche will double sales by 2020"
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Porsche boss Matthias Muller at the world premiere of the new 911 Carrera. The driving presentation took place in November 2011 in Santa Barbara, California.
Source: REUTERS
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The rear of the new Porsche 911 (front) and the old one. The changes can be seen in the taillights and a small tear-off edge on the side at the top of the narrow L.…concludes.
Source: Porsche
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The new Porsche 911 (left) has clear air inlets at the bottom, the headlights are shaped. The new 911 has become longer and therefore looks more elongated.
Source: Porsche
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The center console is similar to that of the Cayenne and Panamera; it is narrower in the 911.
Source: Porsche
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The hand switch in the old 911. There is no console between the driver and front passenger.
Source: Porsche
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The new one: It looks stretched and crouches flat on the asphalt.
Source: Porsche
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The new 911 Carrera on a test drive. As with every 911, the upwardly curved fenders are a stylistic feature.
Source: Porsche
Porsche wants to continue a success story with the new 911. in the "World online"-Interview with CEO Muller talks about sales, returns and ventilated seats.
P.In 2011, orsche will sell more than 100,000 cars for the second time in the history of the sports car brand. But Porsche boss Matthias Muller expects that the demand for vehicles from his company will increase significantly in the coming years. However, Muller‘s goal is not limited to better sales figures. The return should remain at today’s level: In 2011 it will probably be higher than for all other manufacturers worldwide.
World Online: Mr. Muller, you currently have the new Porsche 911 presented. For you, however, that should have been a glimpse into the past.
Matthias Muller: We haven’t lost sight of our past with the new car. The 911 was to be further developed in an evolutionary manner and continue the success story in the seventh generation. With this new edition we have developed a very innovative car, it underlines our competitive advantage.
World Online: The past also means that you are just introducing the 911 Carrera, but are secretly already busy redesigning the model of this car.
Matthias Muller: That’s right, I was just talking to our designer, Michael Mauer, that it will be a big challenge to come up with a redesigned 911 in three or four years’ time. And then to introduce the next generation in seven years. Since this trolley is our most important product, we are well advised to deal with it early on.
World Online: Where do you see a need for action??
Matthias Muller: I don’t see anyone at the moment. After a year in the market, we interview our customers, our dealers and ourselves. We then reflect on that thoroughly and make decisions together.
World Online: CEOs are never completely satisfied. You would be the first.
Matthias Muller: We have touched up many details over the past few months and are now bringing a great product onto the road. When you deal with the products so intensively, you always have to consider possible changes, but everything in good time. There is really no need at the moment, and I am more than satisfied with what our designers and engineers have implemented.
World Online: It is noticeable that you place little value on assistance systems. From blind spot assistants to traffic sign displays, you do without the latest help displays in the new Porsche, for whatever reason?
Matthias Muller: I think we don’t have to be the first to use such systems in this market segment. We have to take into account the fact that the 911 Carrera is a sports car. We can be a bit more puristic and don’t have to offer everything that competitors install in limousines, for example.
World Online: But there is now a two-zone air conditioning system and ventilated seats for the 911. Sports car trailers will mock you for it.
Matthias Muller: You always have to expect that you can’t please everyone, but basically we try to implement the wishes of our customers.
World Online: You have now announced major new releases for the next seven years. So you will expand the four series that are now available, and not just to include the small Cajun off-road vehicle.
Matthias Muller: With the Cajun, we have decided on another very interesting product and are working very intensively on realizing this vehicle, including the associated production facility. Other models are conceivable. We think very hard about which ones that could be. In the past, and then we come back to the initial question, there were various models that made sense in their time. And there are considerations to derive further products from the existing model series. If you take the example of the Cajun, we provide the Cayenne with a product that will appeal to other customers. And then of course you can also consider adding a model to the Panamera.
World Online: Then another series is still missing. For example one below the Boxster?
Matthias Muller: It would look good on Porsche if we could offer another sports car in addition to two off-road vehicles and two sedans. I’ve never made a secret of the fact that the 550, which I drove myself at the Mille Miglia, always impresses me in the Porsche Museum. And that’s why we’re seriously asking ourselves whether another model below the Boxster might make sense.
World Online: This year, for the second time in Porsche history, you will sell more than 100,000 vehicles. If you look into 2020, how many cars do you want to sell per year? 200,000 vehicles, or is that even too few?
Matthias Muller: The number 200,000 is not our measuring instrument; at most it can help determine Porsche’s profitability. We have to keep the brand where it is now in this regard. And that is determined from the price, the one-time expenditure, the sales and the production costs. This size of 200,000 cars sold is simply because we’ve sold 100,000 units in the past. Then the Panamera was added, so we would have had to sell around 120,000 units, which could not be achieved due to the economic crisis at the time. From today’s perspective, with the Cayenne, Panamera, Boxster, Cayman and 911 Carrera models, as well as the Cajun, we will be heading for around 175,000 cars. In addition, we naturally expect our markets to develop further.
World Online: From today’s perspective, that sounds like a bold forecast.
Matthias Muller: It is not when we consider that we will continue to expand our dealer network. We will inevitably achieve sales of 200,000 cars. This is not an illusion, but a completely normal growth according to the laws of the market. Whether that will be a few more or fewer cars is not relevant to me. It is crucial that we can maintain our premium claim. And for that we prefer to sell one less car than one too many.
World Online: You see the return for 2011 at 21 percent?
Matthias Muller: We have set ourselves a goal of 15 percent, for which we have to continuously strive in all areas.
World Online: Can that be expanded even further??
Matthias Muller: That’s difficult. I think we did extremely well this year, so exceeding the target return is conceivable.
World Online: Do you know of another company in Germany with a similar return??
Matthias Muller: This already puts us in a leading position in the automotive industry, but that is in line with our philosophy that sports cars always want to be ahead of the pack. This may also be possible in other areas of the economy, but we have to orientate ourselves towards the auto industry. Our result is a nice thing.
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