It's official: the Cayenne blows!

[BlueSkyJaunte]

" Porsche. A full two months after this website first reported it, the mainstream automotive media is picking up on the fact that the standard Porsche Cayenne S model is piling up like cord wood on dealer lots across the country. There is now an "official" 60-day supply of unsold Cayennes "out there" in the real world, but our in-the-trenches dealer sources say that number is at best optimistic at this point, that the real number is much higher. Hot on the heels of this grim news comes the news that Porsche is getting ready to introduce a six-cylinder Cayenne, which will probably have a power-to-weight ratio more akin to a Radio Flyer than a worthwhile SUV, which should solidify the contempt building for the vehicle in the marketplace. We said it first, and we'll say it again: 1. Porsche will rue the day they ever made the decision to play in an arena they have no business being in, and 2. Now that Porsche is just another car company, they're finding themselves having to worry about all sorts of brands they'd never even give a second look at in the past. Chairman Wendelin Wiedeking has managed to "dumb-down" the Porsche brand and inexorably alter the future course of the company in ways he didn't have the vision to anticipate - all in one fatal swoop. "

http://www.autoextremist.com/page6.shtml

[Milu]

Lots of us thought it and wrote about what a ***** idea the Cayenne was.
However, saying I told you so doesn't give much satisfaction in this case. We're stuck with the truck and "New Porsche ag".

[Hockey fan]

I posted an article from CNN last night about the new "Slow" version V6 coming out next year. It will have a motor supplied by VW, and had fairly tame performance numbers.

The article did refer to Porsche as the world's most "profitable" car maker though - maybe the Cayenne is a giant tax write off!-)

Jeff

[CJFusco]

this V6 Cayenne is bad news to me. I think that if Porsche insists on building a SUV, it better damn well be the best SUV in the world. The Cayenne Turbo might just be... but the Cayenne S is, as evo magazine put it, "jack of all trades, master of none." I can't help thinking a V6 would tarnish the car even more

[motion]

Slowest vehicle from Porsche since the 924, as someone wrote. Great.

[Zeke]

Beginning of the end for the Pepper.

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by Milu
Lots of us thought it and wrote about what a ***** idea the Cayenne was.
However, saying I told you so doesn't give much satisfaction in this case. We're stuck with the truck and "New Porsche ag".

Beg to differ. We're not "stuck". Sure, I've lived with, and loved my 1972 911S for decades...So, I guess that makes me as marque loyal as any, since it was my 4th Porsche. But hey, I'm living in the USA. I can kiss Porsche adios, and buy whatever the hell I want...as early as tomorrow morning. I do have to admit, the factory decision to enter into the sports ute market did piss me off. But I haven't sold my S. Not yet, anyway... Tomorrow? Who knows?

[CJFusco]

hey just because we don't like the new Porsche AG doesn't mean we have to disown the old Porsches... Porsche could be building Kia's for all I care; I would still love my 944 and gladly drive a 959, 930, 993, 2.7 RS, (if i ever had the opportunity) etc etc etc

[CarreraS2]

Sometimes I hate being right.

Not that it took any major genius to figure this one out. Just someone not on any heavy drugs.

The idea was horrible, and the poor execution was worse. The thing is a characterless, boring, blob of a vehicle. Looks matter, and the market will speak volumes on that issue as far as the Cayenne goes.

This really could be the beginning of the end.

[Milu]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Beg to differ. We're not "stuck". Sure, I've lived with, and loved my 1972 911S for decades...So, I guess that makes me as marque loyal as any, since it was my 4th Porsche. But hey, I'm living in the USA. I can kiss Porsche adios, and buy whatever the hell I want...as early as tomorrow morning. I do have to admit, the factory decision to enter into the sports ute market did piss me off. But I haven't sold my S. Not yet, anyway... Tomorrow? Who knows?

Absolutely! We always have the option of voting with our feet!

Porsche tried to kill the 911 and force the 928 on the enthusiast. The tactic failed. Next time round they took the 911 off the catalogue, made a rear engined 928 and called it a 911. I'm sure the 928 and 996 are great cars in their way but neither is a package I want. Depreciation shows how desirable the market really thinks they are. Marque loyalty? I've had nine Porsches. If I needed and could afford a new car I would not have hesitated and got a 911. Today I might consider a 996 the same way I'd consider a TVR, an M3 etc.

The decision to enter the SUV market didn't piss me off as such, but the Cayenne did. Possibly the best of its type, but just another truck. When it was announced I still believed Porsche was a sports car manufacturer controlled by engineers and enthusiasts, now I know it's marketing and bean counters that rule. The Rinnspeed 996 turbo conversion is much closer to what I was hoping for and money permitting would perhaps have purchased.

[CJFusco]

"Next time round they took the 911 off the catalogue, made a rear engined 928 and called it a 911. "

This sums up perfectly what I've always thought about the 996. It's too luxury grand-tourer, not enough simple sports-car. Weird that not many motoring journalists made the 911-928-996 connection... I wonder what would have happened if Porsche continued to build the 993, by special order only, alongside the 996. I bet the 993 would have outsold it...

I would take a 993 Carrera over a 996 any day... unless it is a GT3 or GT2, of course...

[Milu]

Originally posted by CJFusco
" Weird that not many motoring journalists made the 911-928-996 connection...

Perhaps they don't want to rock the boat, I've certainly heard it in private.

Originally posted by CJFusco
I wonder what would have happened if Porsche continued to build the 993, by special order only, alongside the 996. I bet the 993 would have outsold it...[/B]

I agree, but the 996 is much higher profit per vehicle.

[CarreraS2]

Originally posted by CJFusco

I would take a 993 Carrera over a 996 any day... unless it is a GT3 or GT2, of course...

So would a lot of other people, I guess. Which is why 993 prices (esp. 2S prices) remain frustratingly high for enthusiasts, while 996s are already seen in the 30's.

The market definately values 993 more than 996.

[350HP930]

As a former employee of Reeves Porsche/Hummer in Tampa I will have to say that this story and the one that follows it about H2s piling up certainly don't represent the florida market.

Reeves was easily able to unload all of their allotments of both pepperwagons and H2s for the several months I worked there.

I would have to question the validity of this 'news' due to my own first hand knowledge concerning the sales of these vehicles.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

One data point does not a distribution make!

[CJFusco]

Thank you Yoda! Actually, I was kinda confused about this news report... from what I've heard, the cayenne was selling like crazy...

[BlueSkyJaunte]

When 900 years you reach, look this good you will not. Hmm?

Actually, the phrasing "X does not a Y make" pre-dates Yoda & co.

[andrew15]

Didn't the 356 crowd complain about the downfall of Porsche with the intro of the 911? They complained that it wasn't a true sports car - it was too heavy, too spoftly sprung, more of a big GT car, blah blah blah.

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same...

Regards,
Andrew M

[CJFusco]

"Actually, the phrasing "X does not a Y make" pre-dates Yoda & co."

Yes. Thank you so much for sucking the life out of my stupid little joke.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Hey, man, I'll always be there for you.