Quote:
Originally Posted by dcjones56
I'm sure that is very true, until they cash their paychecks or retirement checks and then whatever embarrassment they had from being associated with such inferior vehicles is forgotten as the check is deposited into their bank accounts. Has Porsche sold out? To the purist and the closed minded, yes. However, if it were not for these luxury items Porsche would not be in business today, as much as I hate to say it, the sales of the 911, 928, and 944 were not capable of sustaining Porsche, and governmental regulations eventually killed the beloved air-cooled engine too. Times change. Companies change or go out of business. Those are the grim facts of life.
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Exactly.
Porsche doesn't mean the same thing to say, Ashton Kuchar as it did to, say, James Dean. Times change.
The exorbitant expense of regulations forces companies to go big in order to utilize the economies of scale just to survive. There is no 'middle size" in car companies any more.
On the other hand.......
Porsche has parleyed themselves into the position of charging obscene monies for certain things. Colored belts? Add a LOT more than the dye color! They laugh all the way to the bank when the custom order book comes out. yeeehaw!~
Still, I get it. Even though that stuff is a complete ripoff, it's just one teeny part of the total picture.
Now, I totally 'get' that they need to be very careful about whoring their image in terms of suggested retail pricing*, it would be cool to see a true entry level sports car from them. Small LIGHT, LIGHT LIGHT, with a flat four even.
But, I know thats highly unlikely.
Jacks a character, and only time will tell if he's right, but, many companies have gone year after decade making cars that have bad residuals, and are doing (selling) fine. (cough BMW cough,) so my gut tells me Porsche will be around for quite awhile, in one form or another.
* it will be interesting to see what the effect of the new baby Merc is on the brands prestige rating a few years down the road. Right out of the box, it's selling well, but, as a car, it's nothing special. And jeeez, who decided that hood cut line was a good idea?