Porsche Price Differentials
 

Six weeks ago we were in California checking out new Porsche prices at a couple of dealers in the LA area.

Today I spent the afternoon at the Porsche factory dealer in Zuffenhausen, comparing those prices.

Guess what? The prices here in Euro are virtually identical to the prices in LA in US dollars. And this when 1 Euro = $1.59 (last time I looked)!

That means that you get an almost 40% discount when you buy the car in the US, compared to the guy who buys from the dealer next to the friggin factory.

Go figure.

Could taxes be a factor here? Anywhere there is a VAT (Value added tax) tax, the taxes are hidden from the consumer...collected all along the line as a product is produced, then sold.

Not sure, but I was comparing pre-tax sticker prices.

Sure, but the way a VAT tax works? Taxes added all along the line. Not considered a sales tax. For example, Porsche used to buy seats from Recaro. Recaro buys the steel...a tax added to the price of the steel...ditto the leather, etc. The consumer pays all, but only sees the "sales tax"...not the VAT.

I don't think VAT is the issue. Besides, VAT has both input and output credits to avoid a cascading tax. Thus the US exported cars would be subject to the same level of VAT - except (possibly) for the very last stage at which the supplier sells to Porsche.

Methinks it's just Porsche's silly buggers pricing policy. There's a 20 - 30% price differential (in Euro terms) between cars sold in Canada and the US for example - for absolutely no good reason.

no good reason? Sell high...Porsche's motto. :rolleyes:

So, about 90k euros for a new Carrera S coupe? :cool:

Sure there's a good reason. It's called greed! The price differential used to make sense when our dollar was worth 60 US cents, but those days are gone, yet the differential exists. Local dealers blame PCNA and they're probably right, but now that we have Porsche Canada, prices haven't changed.

This has been a HUGE sore spot for Porsche customers here in Canada. Most of us that are "in the know" buy cars south of the border. Even when the dollar was $0.60 it was still cheaper.

I blame George Bush!