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      05-20-2008, 04:53 PM   #23
epbrown
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Drives: BMW M Coupe, Porsche Boxster S
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Chicago, IL

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Quote:
Originally Posted by footie View Post
Do a little research before condemning someone else's post.
There's no way your research didn't pick up the following unless you're cherry-picking: http://www.leftlanenews.com/report-p...0-per-car.html.

Here's a small sample, using 2007 numbers:
Audi: $2047
BMW: $3207
DC/MB/Smart: $917
Porsche: $28,247
Toyota: $2182
VW: $430

Porsche responded that their profits included non-vehicle related activities, which is true, but adjusting the numbers for their stock-related profits (they've been accused of acting more like a hedge fund rather than a car maker by no less than the Financial Times), the number was still over $20k/car, which they don't dispute.

You can talk engineering and build quality all you want, but the fact is that a large chunk of the price of a Porsche has nothing to do with production costs. And you can be a Porsche fan and still realize the cars are over-priced. The options charges are seriously skewed compared to the rest of the car market or even just relative to the component prices.

No one can tell a company how much profit they're entitled to, and Porsche customers seem content to pay a premium for the crest on the car. But I passed on Porsche twice during my last 2 sports car searches, despite being a card-carrying PCA member and owning 3 Porsches previously. The cars are still good, even better than most of their competition, but their value no longer matches their prices. You can dispute the Cayman S/M Coupe dichotomy on many fronts, but on value? No freaking way the Cayman S is worth $20k more than an M Coupe in any real sense. The performance, the engineering, the materials, none are superior enough to quantitatively justify the entire price difference.

Unfortunately, too many people's eyes tend to glaze over at the Porsche name, and rational thinking stops coming into the decision, and they capitalize on that (in the truest sense of the word). I don't condemn your post for sharing that opinion, but I strongly dispute it.
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