Porsche announced Thursday that its sales in the first half of 2018 were more than 3 percent above their 2017 figures, which was the company’s previous best-ever sales figure in the first half of a year, and eventually carried the company to a new annual sales record.
Despite consumers trending toward crossovers in recent years, the model with the biggest percentage of sales growth was Porsche’s Panamera sedan, which saw tremendous 91 percent sales growth over its 2017 figures, totaling 20,500 cars. The 911’s sales leaped too, with 28 percent growth, and about 21,400 vehicles delivered so far this year. Porsche’s volume kings continue to be the Macan and Cayenne crossovers, at 46,600 and 28,700 vehicles delivered respectively.
“In the year of our ’70 years of Porsche sports cars’ anniversary, we are especially pleased that our icon, the 911, continues to enjoy a very strong momentum,” said Detlev von Platen, sales and marketing executive at Porsche, in a company press release. “That shows how strong and in demand our brand is.”
Globally, the company’s single strongest market is still China, though the populous country actually saw sales decline 7 percent from 2017’s figures, dragging Asia-wide sales down 4.2 percent. The most Porsche-hungry market in the Americas remains the United States, accounting for 82.5 percent of demand, with its 6.7 percent growth helping pull region-wide sales up 6.6 percent.
Everything is coming up roses in Porsche’s home of Germany, where 11.3 percent sales escalation tug Europe-wide sales up 9.3 percent.
“The political and economic situations in our main markets, especially in China and the USA, are considerable challenges at the moment, continued von Platen. “In Europe, we are preparing our model range for future emission standards. Due to our positive development in the first six months, we are nevertheless confident that we will reach last year’s high levels this year as well.”
Despite forward momentum that looks set to carry Porsche to another year of all-time sales records, the company faces some speed bumps on its path.
Its reliance on U.S. market sales may hurt the company when Trump’s tariffs are enforced. Those are projected to raise the average price of an imported European car by $11,700, pushing even base model Porsches like the Boxster and Cayman above the $70,000 mark. Less significant, though still a pain for Porsche is the recent Panamera recall and sales freeze, which affects 715 Panameras sold in the Americas.