Kodiak Bear

"Porsche Says It Only Builds Two (!) Identical Sports Cars Each Year

BY BRAD ANDERSON | POSTED ON JULY 15, 2019 2


Production of the Porsche 911 and 718 models sits at approximately 25,000 units annually, so it’s only logical to presume there many identical examples rolling out of the factory each year. However, that’s not the case.
Autocar recently had the opportunity to sit down with Porsche plant manager Christian Friedl and discovered that the German car manufacturer typically only produces two identical 911 or 718 models annually.
That astonishing figure pays testament to the personalization options Porsche offers. In addition, there are no less than 39 variants of the 911 and 718 Boxster/Cayman models on the market, allowing customers to pick their perfect ride no matter what their needs and wishes are, so the possible combinations are way too many to count.
Porsche, though, won’t stop here: according to Friedl, the carmaker intends on launching even more options for its vehicles and, before long, it is possible that every single car rolling off the production line will be distinct from all others."

In addition to the base model, Corvette could make a ton of money with high priced options that add "exclusivity" appeal for the higher buck market.
BIG PROBLEM: Chevy dealers: both sales and service would have to recognize the different type of customer and react appropriately.

TLSTWIN

I understand your thoughts, but in reality adding high end options actually trickle down to the base model as well due to the fact GM could NEVER charge enough to recoup the actual costs of said options.

That is why those base models are so expensive to start with. Do you really think those base cars are worth that much more to the comparable Corvette? I do not. You are paying for those other "options" even if you don't get them.

jefnvk

At least GM does a lot better job than Ford at offering line item options, but the reality is if you are mass producing, there is only a limited amount of things you can actually allow customization on.

The Corvette actually has a rather decent customization option list, compared to other American cars.

sly1

Actually Porsche rips off their customers with the prices they charge for options. If the profit margin on options isn't at least 100%, I'd be surprised. Although the base price for a 911 is $91K, virtually all of the dealer ordered cars are in the $110- $120K range, and over $130K for the S model.

Kodiak Bear

IMO, Porsche definitely has a "cultural" value in the eyes of some. I don't know why, it simply has.

I want to try and expand the C8 "culture" value to include at least some of those folks. If it means overcharging for options, so be it, as long as there's still a base C8 for the knowledgeable performance buyer.

Goal, keep the C8 profitable to GM and the lead technology car by expanding the appeal to a broader (or changing) market. Who has the disposable income , what to they want and how does GM get some of it???

Note, I keep saying expand the market appeal, not leave the current market.

Keep the Vett in production.

JABCAT

They already sell significantly more corvettes than the Porsche so why do they need to expand their market to include higher-end, over-priced option packages? There is no need & there is plenty of aftermarket options for owners to customize their Vettes to their liking.

OVR60

When you complain about Porsches high priced options it indicates you can not afford them. So lets see how the C8 option prices compare to Porsches and it appears buyers will have no problem paying for high priced low quality options on the C8.

Kodiak Bear

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...rds-tom-peters

"I’ll tell you something else about when we did the C7. I've said this before: Don't design this for the current Corvette or Camaro customer. Design it for when you were 10 years old. When I saw one of those Stingrays for the first time, it was like a spaceship landed. I remember the day, crystal clear, when that '63 Stingray pulled up to our grade-school and the kid got out. His dad was dropping him off. We'd get out of the bus and wait for that. Everybody remembers their first ride in that Corvette. It's like, "What is that?" We're trying to capture that.

I said, "Don't design it for the Corvette enthusiast or the guys you see at the races." They're wonderful people, obviously, but if you want to take this into the future and you want to make sure you instill that lifelong passion—that "Someday, I'm going to have one of those” kind of feeling—that's what you want."

Others have a done a super job of showing the track of Vett sales on this site. Current sales do not seem to portent a healthy future. IMO there is a feeling in GM that there is no more remaining in the current line. The car will simply die in the market place as well as on the track. IMO, The above comment by Tom Peters about the C7 goes double up about the C8 Nothing wrong about being paranoid, complacency is what will get the Vett in trouble.

vndkshn

How much of that has to do with the 4 year (and really, even before that with concepts and rumors prior to the C7) story of what appeared to be a development mule for a mid-engine car? The last two years especially, it was pretty obvious that something was coming, part of me wonders how many decided to hold off and wait to see what the C8 brought to the table. I know it is a real reason that even though I've looked pretty hard in the surrounding region for a ZR1 allocation over the last 6 months, and have nearly ordered a Z06 a dozen times, I never pulled the trigger on either of the cars.

Kodiak Bear

That's interesting. Would you have waited for another FM Vett or did the prospect of a radical change in direction put you on hold? Equally interesting, how many would not have purchased a FM C8, simply holding on to their current Vett. What more could have been done with the current direction, both technically and marketing, to sustain sales? We'll never know but we do know Vett's choice. I'm suggesting that the choice opens new opportunities in marketing of options because the Vett will be so "new" that some of the initial foot track may well come from a different market. Will GM be able to take advantage of that in a sustained manner?

I also infer that the biggest problem will be the "culture" of the dealer sales and service persons.

LIStingray

The phrase: a donkey is a horse designed by a marketing committee and putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make it a beautiful animal, comes to mind in your thought process.
Just because you slap some fancy stickers or trim on a Corvette, doesn't make it a Ferrari - and the person who wants a Ferrari isn't just buying it because it comes in a particular shade of red.
The two seat sports car market is small in size, and just expanding the upper side of the Corvette price range isn't going to change that. The only way people will spend more money for a Corvette is of you try to bring it upmarket with a much higher starting price and much lower sales volume - and then you no longer have what 66 years of Corvette tradition is all about: performance value.

TLSTWIN

What makes you say the C8 is going to have lower quality options that are similar? What options do you think the two cars have the same that you think the Corvette is inferior? Just curious

I am thinking about the C7 ZR1 and can't think of anything even close to it for the same money that even comes close in performance, or have 50K or more better quality of interior or options.

RedMercy

That's for the last year model, the new one is well over 100k

FLS2K

One reason I have a C7 is that configuring a Porsche is so damn frustrating. I prefer KISS.

rcooper

In the mid 50's cars had much longer lists of options,starting with the base model. Say Pontiac, Chieftan, Star Chief and Bonneville in 1957, each car had a list of personalized options for it that the buyer could order. It worked well for many years but as dealers got bigger and smarter they began to order cars for inventory. They put packages together and made it easier for their buyers to pick a car for dealers stock that suited their wants. GM, Ford and Chrysler all saw the benefits of packaging options for sales. Want a car with A/C and an upgraded radio, well hey, lets throw in power seats and windows, give them a price break and wallah, packing of luxury groups,performance groups etc.
By 2000 it was increasing difficult to a la carte an ordered car, my 2001 Corvette was the last car I could order a la carte, not sure if that was the last year of special orders that would allow a certain option as a single but it had to be close. Packaging became the norm and the manufacturers found that they could package car for specific markets with certain options and not have to "one off" cars, slowing production and allowing for better profit margins. Remember that assembly line production is about speed and not quality.
Corvette is a trade off between quality and speed, $500 and you can get a color delete but you still can't get a custom paint for your car.
Corvette/GM have never been in the special program ideological build process. Make a quick buck and move on. 35,000 cars as opposed to 25,000 production of 3 different models both have their market space but Corvette will not step into that area. While the plant has room for that I just don't think GM is that detail oriented,no do they want to be. They have developed packages that Corvette/ Chevy/ GM/Cadillac buyers are happy with. Why offer "one off" items when what they have currently works just fine?
And, as mentioned before the base price of the car will go up to justify the additional cost that is not covered by the special orders.
Just a thought???

WalterSobchak

I fall into this category. I was going to get a Z06 then decided to get a c8 now. I'll probably get a c7z used as the prices plummet. I agree gm kind of shot themselves in the foot, but I think the gamble is more people will start buying the mid engine sooner and they will expand the base.

TXshaggy

The base 992 Carrara 911 starts at $91K...check the Porsche website. Yes the launch 992s were S and 4S models only that were much higher.

Back to the OP’s thread...doubt many Corvette buyers will be interested in leather covered sun visors, HVAC vents for a grand each.

MsEllie

Oh boy, that is delivering a broadside. A heavily optioned C8 will leave the doors of Canadian showrooms at about 125 large CAD. Plus taxes. I would think those well-heeled customers would expect a high level service experience.

vndkshn

I'm very much in the market for a new toy, and have been for a few years now, but quite honestly, didn't want to overpay, but didn't want to get something under my (and my wife's) expectations. The idea of a mid-engine Corvette has always interested me, so hearing the rumors of it coming, then followed by the pictures, definitely caused me to put some purchase options on hold. And the range that we were looking at is quite expansive. I won't say "money is no object", but when comes down to "mid 100s for a ZR1" vs "mid to upper 200s" for a wide range of other cars, we decided that going to the higher price bracket would be worth if if we couldn't find what we wanted at a lower price. It's not a vehicle we will be swapping in a couple of years. Both of us really like the C7 and it is what got us thinking the ME would/could be the answer. We looked for a ZR1 allocation so we could order what we wanted, but none of the "locals" had one any more (including Classic Chevrolet). Neither of us were really crazy about the ZR1 as in some ways, it is a bit "overstyled", we likely would have swapped the wing for something a little more subdued.

FE/ME... really hasn't played a huge role in our decision as we have and are considering a few FE cars as well. My wife could not care less where the engine is I think, but a manual trans is a big requirement for her (which obviously has made our shopping more difficult).

As for Corvette, they needed to do something revolutionary. I'm not saying the the ME switch is what they needed, but they did need to take the car a different direction. We see it on this forum, people with C6s who didn't trade up because they didn't feel the C7 was different enough. I think a new FE car that is basically an evolution of the C7 would have failed miserably. I'm kinda worried about the C8 because in many ways, outside the switch to ME, I kinda feel that way about what we have seen with the C8, it's styling is too C7 (which is crazy to say, as I like the styling of the C7).

JadeRaven

The value in these cars has always been in the stripper models. Tick a few boxes and the price goes up tremendously. However I imagine they will substantially bump the base price to begin with.

The good news is that Chevy interiors are always so cheesy, that it's very easy to pass on upgrading the interior bits. If I have to miss out on heated seats, so be it. But there's no way they're going to sell me on a 3LT package for $10k, just not going to happen, a Corvette interior can only be so nice.

Hopefully we will get a DCT as standard, so we can avoid $2-3k upcharge for that. Time will tell what they will want for the Z51 pack, but I think I could even talk myself out of that too, depending on what performance it actually offers.