How Porsche grew 30% in Brazil amid pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A car for few people? Yes, it still is, but in a universe where the cheapest model will set you back some R$400,000, (US$70,000)  Porsche has once again managed to exceed expectations.

The Stuttgart-based brand secured 32% growth in 2020 compared to 2019. This represents over 2,000 units sold in a year in which dealerships were closed for about three months.

This is the highest growth among luxury brands. The company was second only to Rolls-Royce, which grew 50% in the year, but this isn’t a fair comparison. The difference is that the British luxury brand’s 50% growth means it sold 3 cars in 2020 compared to 2 in 2019.

The IPO boom has caused a new wave of millionaires in Brazil and the streets in places like Florianópolis and some high-end neighborhoods of São Paulo are now full of new luxury cars.

Related

As for Porsche, it managed to place 600 more vehicles on the streets. And while most brands rely on the growth of SUVs to achieve better results, at Porsche neither the Macan nor the Cayenne were behind this growth, but rather the 911 sports model.

The brand’s classic and most desired model, combining the 911 and 911 Turbo versions, sold 755 units in 2020 compared to 247 in 2019. Currently, the two-seater coupe’s starting price is R$689,000. In a pandemic year, economic crisis, and plunging stock market indicators, this is quite an achievement.

It is worthy of note that the novelty factor was no longer present. The current 911 generation reached Brazil in March 2019, meaning it had almost a full year to achieve good numbers. Initially, the new 911 was sold only in the Carrera S and Carrera 4S versions.

Pandemic and slumping investments heighten the emotional purchase aspect

An automotive market consultant stresses other issues that go beyond analyzing the cold numbers of registrations and are purely emotional. “In normal times, with a stronger economy, the Porsche customer who has that kind of money would have invested, if not all, a good part of that amount.”

“When the stock market is down, interest rates do not provide good yields, and the market has no options with good yields, so this client will end up spending his money on the car that his emotional side wants, in this case a Porsche,” he adds. “It is as if he thought: if my money is not going to produce any profit, at least I am going to have some fun,” he adds.

“The other issue is that with the pandemic, everything closed and the mandatory isolation to which people were forced, this client will eventually be looking for a “gift” for himself as a form of reward and personal satisfaction,” he adds.

Porsche 911 ranges from R$689,000 to R$1,509,000

Today the Porsche 911 range, the company’s best-selling car, is comprised of 9 versions. The cheapest, the Carrera, costs R$689,000 and has a 385 hp 3-liter twin-turbo 6-cylinder boxer engine. Next comes the Carrera S and Carrera S Cabriolet that get 450 hp from the same engine. The prices range between R$839,000 and R$889,000, respectively.

In the next level are the Carrera 4S coupe and convertible versions, which have the same 450 hp engine, but feature four-wheel drive, hence the 4 in the name. The coupe is advertised for R$879,000, while the cabriolet starts at R$929,000.

At the top of the table are the Turbo versions, although currently all of its engines are turbocharged. In this case, the engine is now a 3.8 liter twin-turbo 6-cylinder boxer. It produces 580 hp in the Turbo and Turbo Cabrio versions, whose prices stand at R$1,199,000 and R$1,249,000, respectively.

The Turbo S versions, coupe and cabriolet, launched in 2020 in Brazil, hold the title of the most powerful Porsche 911 ever produced by the company in history. The engine is the same as the Turbo, but tuned to 650 hp. Prices stand at R$1,459,000 and R$1,509,000, respectively.