Why rich Turks like German luxury cars

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Rich Turks and their love for German cars
Ulf Poschardt in a Porsche on the racetrack in Barcelona
Slide across the ice in Finland in a Porsche
The maximum speed on Turkish motorways is 120
Why the sports car trade is booming in the USA
German companies have an extremely good reputation
The Targa is the most beautiful current Porsche
“In my family, everyone drives Porsches"
These are the luxury cars from Knightsbridge

Rich Turks and their love for German cars

German technology and German cars – that’s what wealthy Turks like. They are particularly fond of Porsche models

Source: dpa Picture Alliance / Rainer Hackenberg

Turkish car enthusiasts prefer to be stuck in traffic jams in German models. Anyone who can afford a Porsche has made it. However, every Istanbuler is driven in a Benz at least once.

B.rst traffic in Istanbul. The cars are crowded bumper to bumper. It’s no different in the chic Etiler district of Istanbul, but here the sheet metal avalanche does not consist of any cars. No, the immaculate white Mercedes of the S-Class torments its way through the traffic jam at walking pace, as does the black SL convertible and the shiny silver Audi TT.

In the middle of it all, a red Ferrari revs the engine. Anyone who sneaks along this noble mile does not want to drive, but rather show what they have. The street is lined with steak restaurants – and car dealerships, where you can get an overview of what is currently trending among Turkish car enthusiasts. “Our customers love luxury and have the money for it,” explains Sahil Ozbay from the Imperial car dealership.

He not only has the latest models from Mercedes-Benz on offer, but also other German cars in the top price segment. On average, he sells around 25 luxury cars a month.

Ulf Poschardt in a Porsche on the racetrack in Barcelona

Perfect conditions for driving the Porsche well: Ulf Poschardt tests in Barcelona. The car, the route – and its skill. Source: The World

Ozbay’s customers are not alone with their passion for German cars. Seda unal’s office is located a few kilometers from Sahil Ozbay, namely on the 14th floor of a commercial building on the Asian side of Istanbul. Her main job is to run an agency through which you can book individual trips, seminars and coaching.

But her real passion is the treasures in her garage: “I have always been enthusiastic about German technology and German cars. I also have a real passion for high speeds. The Porsche is the successful combination of both, ”says the forty-year-old blonde, adding that she has always driven exclusively German cars.

She started as a young woman with the VW Golf, Even today, the quality of which she doesn’t come up with, followed by Mercedes-Benz and, most recently, Porsche: “With German cars, you know what you have. There is no question mark left, ”she enthuses. Since this year she has been on the board of the Porsche Club Istanbul and is full of verve when it comes to promoting her favorite brand.

Slide across the ice in Finland in a Porsche

The Porsche Association recently started publishing a quarterly glossy magazine at your instigation. It is sent to around 500 club members, to hotels, to showrooms and to fans of the brand. In addition to texts about the beloved car, there is also lifestyle and help in life – probably a tribute to the fact that this automobile club has an unusually large number of female members.

Anyone who has managed to get behind the wheel of a Porsche in male-dominated Turkey can also indicate the direction from time to time. Seda unal also has clear ideas for the future of the club: “We want to bring our members together and get them moving. That’s why we’re going to organize even more trips. ”Her personal highlight has already been determined: A trip together to Finland, where she can slide a Porsche over the ice for the first time.

Anyone who buys a fancy foreign car in Turkey wants the full package, explains Sahil Ozbay from the Etiler Motor Show: "Our customers demand all the extras that can be had, even if they are never used". No wonder, because whoever decides on a vehicle in the luxury segment has to dig deep into their pockets one way or another. Because extremely high taxes are levied on luxury goods.

Seda unal, board member of the Porsche Club Istanbul, behind the wheel of her Porsche

Source: private

A total of 145 percent of the purchase price of a luxury car goes to the state as tax. In other words: Anyone who buys an S-Class Mercedes in Istanbul will donate one and a half to the state. So does Seda unal. The latest model from Porsche, with which the businesswoman is currently toying, she saw at a presentation in Germany for 150,000 euros. In Istanbul, the list price is around 400,000 euros.

A direct import, through which one could avoid the tax, is not possible in Turkey. "If you want to save, you can opt for a used car," says Seda unal. For them, this would not be an alternative: "Assembling the car and choosing the extras are part of it!"

Around 3.5 million vehicles are registered in Istanbul, plus the cars of tourists, business travelers and drivers from the surrounding area, which clog the streets of Istanbul every day. At rush hour, it only goes millimeter by millimeter.

The maximum speed on Turkish motorways is 120

Not exactly the traffic situation in which you can imagine a luxury-class sports car: “Yes, when I was still out and about in the Carrera every day, I really did the car an injustice”, ponders unal, but as a businesswoman she is solution-oriented: “ That’s why I switched to the Porsche Cayenne for city traffic. You sit very comfortably in there and it is robust. In addition, he gets along much better with the streets of Istanbul than the sports models.

Since then, she has been using the fast runabout in her free time for jaunts across the country, where she regularly collects traffic tickets. Because there is a speed limit on all Turkish roads, even on the autobahn you are not allowed to push the tube without braking, but rather drive a maximum of 120 km / h.

Why the sports car trade is booming in the USA

The prices for noble speedsters like Ferrari, Porsche or Lamborghini are exploding in the USA. Investors see this as an alternative to stocks and commodities. Rare models in particular achieve record prices. Source: The World

“You can only press the gas through when there are no speed traps,” explains unal, pointing out that she had completed a driver safety training course when she bought the first fast runabout. Because the real driving pleasure is slowed down on Turkish roads, it is a special highlight for them when the Porsche Club rents the Istanbul Park, the former Formula 1 racetrack on the outskirts of the city.

In the eight curves that are spread over a good five kilometers, unal and her friends from the club let their lust for speed run free. “Every Porsche lover has a passion for speed, but also a love of quality. This separates the wheat from the chaff, ”explains unal, adding that there are enough companies that build fast cars. She tried them all, but only at Porsche did she find what she was looking for: “This brand is a culture in itself. She has style, nobility and design. This extraordinary flair surrounds everything that has to do with Porsche. "

German companies have an extremely good reputation

So it’s no wonder that you don’t just want to shine with your car on the race track on the outskirts, but also want to be seen. The promenade along the Bosphorus is perfect for this. Here, too, you are stuck in a traffic jam, but in an adequate environment.

Because anyone who is rich and beautiful, or at least believes they are, spends the evening in one of the countless trendy bars, which entice with a fantastic view of the waves of the Bosporus and the bridge over it, where the lights of the vehicles are on it until late at night string together like pearls. The parking spaces in front of the restaurants could almost be confused with the showrooms of expensive car dealerships.

German brands enjoy an excellent reputation in Turkey not only in the automotive sector. Traditional companies such as Siemens or Bosch have had their branches there for several decades, but the lively migration movement to Germany has carried the good reputation of German products to the Bosporus and into the Anatolian villages.

The Targa is the most beautiful current Porsche

Why rich Turks like German luxury cars-cars

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Open, close, open, close, open, close – the normal reflex in a Porsche 911 is actually “get in and drive off”. But whoever has the key to the new 911 Targa i…If you hold your hands, he’s deaf to the lure of the six-cylinder and immune to the charm of the lawn. That’s because …

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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… the roof construction, which folds in in a spectacle of 19 seconds and then spreads out again as if following a classic ballet choreography.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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As soon as the spectacle with the glass dome that folds back, the two self-opening half-shells on the roll bar and the Z-shaped roof panels are over, b…there is a fascinating design that …

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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… with the return of the aluminum-colored bracket over the top of the head …

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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… including the classic Targa lettering is closer to the original from 1965 than ever before.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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The unusual roof construction must be worth a lot of money. The cheapest variant, the 3.4 Targa 4, a six-cylinder with 350 hp, costs at least 109,338 euros.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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That is a good 6,000 euros more than the cheapest 911 convertible (Carrera with 350 hp, 103,150 euros) costs.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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For the Porsche 911 Targa 4 S with 400 hp that we drive, you have to spend at least 124,094 euros.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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In contrast to the premiere of the first Porsche Targa in 1965, this time there is no longer any compelling reason for this roof construction. Because unlike almost 50 years ago, m…In the meantime, convertibles without roll bars are also permitted in America.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

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Nevertheless, the new Targa fits very well with the Porsche strategy of dividing a model family further and further in order to keep the car young, fresh and in the headlines.

Source: Martin U. K. Lengemann

The fancy cars with which many migrant workers turned up in their former villages during the long summer vacation aroused particular envy. Even if there were malicious rumors that it was only a question of rental cars with which one wanted to make an impression on relatives on home leave.

But whether borrowed or bought: The road cruisers from “Almanya” were always robust enough for the day-long journey from Bochum to Bodrum and at the same time a symbol that one had made it. That’s why they’ve been featured in Turkish films again and again.

In the road movie “Mercedes mon Amour” from 1992, for example, a yellow Benz 250 SL even played the main role. Proof that not every foreign car arouses enthusiasm among Turkish motor enthusiasts is provided by the colloquial language: Grapscher is called a Fordcu, derived from the American car brand.

“In my family, everyone drives Porsches"

In front of a high-end supermarket on the aforementioned waterfront, there is a man around 40, leaning casually against a Porsche Cayenne with an elegant mahogany metallic paintwork. He’s wearing a mustache and a plaid shirt. He enthusiastically talks about the car, its driving comfort and the many extras.

“With this equipment, the car is unique in Turkey. There is no second time, ”he proudly proclaims. The piece of jewelery doesn’t belong to him at all, he’s just the chauffeur: the actual owner, a pretty young woman with long brown hair, is just scurrying out of the supermarket.

She doesn’t want to reveal the name of her prominent family, but before she makes herself comfortable in the back seat and lets herself be driven through the traffic, she too finds inspiring words for her car and adds: “In my family, everyone drives Porsches. We have a wide variety of models in the garage. With these cars everything is just right and they offer great driving comfort. "

These are the luxury cars from Knightsbridge

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The memory card should be empty and the cell phone battery full when strolling through the London borough of Knightsbridge. Because there are so many luxury buildings in the exclusive residential area…toss around that you don’t even know which one to photograph first. A popular motif on this day is the golden Range Rover tuned by Hamann.