Porsche Panamera launch shifted to China- India, Russia given top priority
Porsche Panamera Launch in Shanghai 2009 April
The German sports car maker Porsche has decided to delay the debut of the Panamera four-door coupe to the Shanghai auto show next April from the Geneva show in early March, as per initial plans.
Porsche has in addition said that the switch reflects the quantum of importance to China as well as its neighbours India and Russia, where Porsche is enjoying growth and success, year after year.
Earlier this week, the Porsche Panamera, painted green, was doing test runs in Shanghai, moderately camouflaged. Once launched, it will contest with cars like the Mercedes Benz CLS and the Audi A8 and BMW 7 Series.
Porsche sold 8,190 vehicles in China in fiscal 2007-2008, more than twice as many as in the previous year. Similarly in India, it was one of the very few companies who was unaffected by the economic slowdown.
Porsche is hoping to sell 20,000 Panameras per year in spite of the economic crisis. Porsche hopes to strengthen it's position as a sportscar maker in Asia with the Panamera.
Despite the change in launch venue, Porsche said the driving presentation for the international press still will take place in Germany in June.
IAB Comment- Very sensible move, this one. In Germany and U.S.A, Porsches are not selling as well as they would have expected. In China, India and Russia, sales number are exceeding expectations. If you were Porsche, where would you launch your next model?
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