Porsche sets key tasks to brace for bumper year in 2016

China is largest sales market for luxury brand

German luxury auto brand Porsche is bracing itself with a trio of tasks for 2016 now that it is sure to have a bumper harvest in China this year.

The automaker delivered 49,190 vehicles from January to October in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, a 37 percent surge year-on-year, said Franz Jung, president and CEO of Porsche China.

"Of course this is a very impressive number. The truth is the small SUV Macan helps us a lot as a brand-new car as its segment is the fastest-growing segment. We have at the moment exactly the right answer. So 2015 is going to be a great year for Porsche in China."

China has become Porsche's largest single market worldwide in terms of sales volume.

Based on its bullish performance, Porsche has started its preparation for 2016, as there is no sign yet that it will be a year of economic recovery.

"We will focus on these three areas - professionalize our dealer network, loyalize our customers, and also the conquest of new customers. I think if we do these three areas right we are on the right track," Jung said.

Porsche said it would open the world's largest training center next month in Shanghai to help build a more professional network of dealers.

The luxury brand now has 85 dealerships on the Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong and Macao, and the number will grow to 90 by the end of 2015.

"It's important to change the mindsets of most of our dealersmindset in the way that it is not possible anymore to just sell new cars. The times of overpricing and long lines of waiting customers are over," Jung said.

"These dealers have to understand that if a customer is not coming to Porsche and waiting in line for a car, you have to search for customers, you have to find them, and you have to do a little bit more to get the business done."

Enhancing customers' loyalty is another major task that Porsche will emphasize next year.

Loyalty starts with a unique purchasing experience in the first place, and then advances by building a constant and close relationship with the customer, he said.

Customer loyalty will grow if Porsche always has an answer for them when they want to buy, maintain or sell their cars, he added.

That is why Porsche asks its dealers to not only focus on new car sales, but also on other areas, for example, financial service products, after sales products and services, and used car sales.

"Sometimes the customers leave whatever you do, but if you don't do anything, then certainly they will be gone," Jung said.

Porsche also urges its dealers to seek new customers now that "comfortable times are over for all dealers".

"If I say dealers have to learn to 'push', I'm not saying pushing cars into the store, I mean push towards the market in order to find opportunities in those markets. Only those who are able to cope with the new circumstances of the market environment will in the long term make profit. And we want to have profitable dealers."

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is hailed as the DNA of the brand. Up until now, more than 850,000 units have been built, making it the most successful sports car in the world.

Porsche unveiled its new 911 Carrera to Chinese customers at the ongoing Guangzhou auto show.

It uses bi-turbo technology, thus ensuring faster speeds and higher performance, at less fuel consumption.

Porsche said the 911 Carrera has a maximum output of 272 kW and a top torque of 450 Nm, while the engine in the 911 Carrera S delivers 309 kW and a torque of 500 Nm.

"As much as the 911 is our DNA of the brand, we need to prove what you can do with such a car. The best proof is on the racetrack, and no one has won more titles than Porsche in racing," said Jung.

In June Porsche won first and second place in the 24 hours of Le Mans - the hardest endurance race in the world - with its 919 hybrid car.

Two weeks ago at the Shanghai racetrack, Porsche won the World Endurance Championship.

"This is demonstrating our leadership in technology, and we try to transfer this technology from racing into our series cars, and to extend brand perception completely," Jung said.

As with its usual position on the racetrack, Porsche is a pioneer in terms of new-energy vehicles in the luxury car segment.

"We are the first luxury car manufacturer who has already put hybrid technology in three diferent car lineups - the Cayenne SE hybrid, Panamera SE hybrid and we have hybrid technologies in the 918 Spyder, the flagship model.

"This is the first step. The second step is going to be electric, which we have seen as a concept car - the Mission E - at the Frankfurt auto show. That shows you what Porsche will do in the future - we will have a full electric car," Jung said.

Contact the writers through lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/24/2015 page15)