Diesel version of the Cayenne SUV and the Panamera sedan from Porsche is being made ready for the US market. There is also probability of Porsche coming up with a diesel engine and gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Panamera at the Geneva Auto show to be held in March. There is a growing demand for fuel efficient cars even for those who like luxury models, and these models would help Porsche meet the demands of these users.
Bernhard Maier, the brand’s sales and marketing chief, in an interview with Automotive News Europe said, “We are discussing internally if we should introduce the Cayenne diesel in the U.S. this year. Also a Panamera diesel is an option.”
He mentioned that the decision would depend on the change of customer preference from gasoline to diesel driven cars which as of now has a small market share in US.
Sales of the Cayenne diesel version have been going on in the European market since 2009. Now they have also launched a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Cayenne for the European and United States market.
30 percent of the Cayenne sales are accounted for by the diesel version as per Maier and he also went on to mention that they expect sales figures to go up further in 2011.
He however mentioned that due to the poor quality of fuel in China Porsche would not sell diesel cars in China.
There are chances that the diesel and gasoline-electric hybrid versions of the Panamera may hit the European market before summer. There could be a display of the models at the next Geneva Show.
Deliveries of Porsche make cars increased to 97.000 in 2010 and demand for the car went up by 49 percent with 114,000 in number as per Maier.
The expected sales figures for 2011 are 100,000 units and the last time that Porsche had touched this figure was in 2007. Thereafter the economic crisis had hit the world over including Porsche and its luxury car segment specifically.
As per Maier, “We have the highest number of orders right now in the company’s history and are starting strongly in the New Year. We will continue our growth story and will increase our deliveries to more than 100,000 units this year.”
Porsche has 113 markets all over the globe in which Asia has shown greatest growth potential with sales of 40 percent in 2010 when compared with sales figures of 2009. The CEO of Porsche Matthias Mueller expects at least 200,000 units per annum to be sold by 2018.
Source: autonews
