Porsche shows how easy it is to make a lot of money

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Simply build the best in the world, and people all over the world will line up to give you their money

Porsche to launch new 911; global sales surge

By Christoph Rauwald
STUTTGART (MarketWatch) -- Porsche AG's global sales surged in August despite swirling recession fears in some of its core markets and the German sportscar maker expects further growth in coming months as it prepares for the presentation of the new generation of its iconic 911 model at the Frankfurt motor show Tuesday.

"We expect stable progress for the rest of the year," Porsche sales chief Bernhard Maier said in an interview at the company's headquarters here.

"We have the highest order intake in the company's history and are likely to reach our sales targets," he added. Porsche aims to sell more than 100,000 cars in 2011. It sold around 95,000 cars last year.

Maier's comments echo similar remarks by other European auto industry executives, who stated that to date the sovereign-debt concerns in Europe and the U.S., which triggered turmoil on financial markets in recent weeks, so far haven't hurt demand for new cars.

Maier said the four-door Panamera coupe could account for around 28,000 car sales this year, exceeding Porsche's initial sales target of 20,000 cars. He noted that demand is so strong at the moment that customers have to wait for up to 12 months [???] for certain versions of the revamped Cayenne sports-utility vehicle.

Porsche's global sales rose around 43% on the year in August to more than 9,000 cars. Sales in China more than tripled year-on-year.

In the January-to-August period, Porsche's global sales rose around 30% to more than 80,000 cars. The company is expected to release detailed sales figures Monday ahead of the Frankfurt motor show.

The seventh generation of Porsche's 911 model is set to contribute to sales momentum from December onward, when deliveries are due to start.

Maier said Porsche could sell around 30,000 of the new 911 cars per year once all versions of the revamped model are available. The 911 accounted for 21,000 car sales last year.

The new 911 Carrera features a six-cylinder engine with 350 horsepower that can accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) in 4.6 seconds. The average fuel consumption is 8.2 liters per 100 kilometers. This compares to 325 horsepower, 5 seconds and 11 liters for the current model.

"North America is still the biggest market for us, closely followed by China," he said, adding that he expects "a head-to-head race" between its two largest sales regions in coming years.

Porsche plans to increase its Chinese dealerships by 12 to 45 this year and keep the number of North American dealerships stable at around 190.

He noted, however, that Porsche currently isn't considering producing cars outside Germany. He added that, particularly in Asia, cars made in Germany enjoy a reputation for top quality. Starting production abroad would be an option only if high import taxes would make a major market economically unviable.

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