April

$28K in profit. Sounds like people getting their heads ripped off.

"A new study has found that German sports car maker Porsche earns an incredible average of <big><b>$28,000 in profit</b></big> on every vehicle it sells. The figure -- printed in Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper, citing a study by B&amp;D Forecast -- dwarfs the per-car earnings of virtually any other automaker.

Comparatively, luxury and sports car maker BMW makes about $3,200 per car. <b>Audi nets a less impressive $1,580</b>, and Chrysler and Volkswagen earn just $900 and $400, respectively."

Even BMW makes twice what Audi does, so comparisons of facilities, range of offerings, and warranty coverage take on a new aspect. Does Porsche really offer 26.5 times better service than the best Audi store?

nirad

every time i price out a porsche with options, i just scratch my head and think, "wow, that is just way too much money for that car."

April

I have to wonder if at some point we'll see a price adjustment.

LilRedWagon

Actually, the number for Audi is more like $2045, as the article you quoted neglected to convert the value quoted in every other version of the same article (1580 euros) into dollars.

Also, Porsche is questioning the methodology, which was basically to take the overall profit for the year and divide by the number of cars sold, which doesn't account very well for things like the 80M euros they made selling a subsidiary this year, and the several 100M euros in investment income from thinks like their shares in VAG, etc.

It really doesn't reflect how much money any of these companies make in profit on each car sold...

April

something we can relate to.

It's hugely profitable.

April

The least expensive Porsche is the 6 cylinder Cayenne at $42K. However the V8 costs $58K before options, and the turbo $112K.

For that base Pepper, you can choose among about 140 possible options before you even work on the colour! An armrest with Caynenne logo is $415!!! A leather headliner is $3K!!!!! So if I throw the kitchen sink at the car and try not to duplicate some options that come in packages, that 6 cylinder Pepper will cost $119,000!!!!!!

The VW Touareg from which 78% of the Cayenne is based upon, starts at $37K. If I throw the kitchen sink at it (14 options available), I get $52K.

The larger but still Touareg based Audi Q7 Premium version starts at $46K. Loaded to gills the price climbs to $69K.

nirad

the logic of "Americans don't customize so we won't offer it" is totally backasswards. Offer us some customization, and we'll do it. And Audi will make money doing it. Oh, and notice how huge the aftermarket industry has grown- it's filling a void that automakers have left wide open.

Mark P

where did your 26.5x number come from?