Once upon a time, walking on the street, a Porsche would speed by, each roar like a breath of luxury, making people yearn for it yet feel out of reach. However, now even high-end brands like Porsche have their moments of stumbling from the clouds.
Porsche's performance in the Chinese market has been continuously poor over the past two years, and this downward trend seems to be intensifying this year. Recently, Porsche released the latest sales data, showing a 7% decrease in global sales for the first nine months, with a 29% plunge in China, making it the largest single market decline for Porsche this year. As Porsche's once largest single market, why is it now "unsellable" here?
One of the reasons is the change in demand in the Chinese market, making Porsche no longer as popular as usual, especially with the rapid rise of domestic high-end new energy vehicles, which has become one of the main reasons for the decline in Porsche's sales in the Chinese market. According to the China Passenger Car Association, the market penetration rate of high-end new energy vehicles priced above 400,000 yuan in 2024 has exceeded 30%, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the 200,000 to 400,000 yuan range is as high as 40%.
Advertisement
The significant increase in penetration rate means that consumer acceptance of new energy vehicles is improving, especially in the mid-to-high-end market. With technological progress and cost reduction, more consumers may choose new energy vehicles in the future.
For Porsche, although its pure electric model "Taycan" has Porsche's consistent style in design and performance, it does not have an advantage in competition with domestic new energy vehicles. In contrast, domestic brands not only perform well in battery technology and intelligent driving systems but also have more affordable prices, which better meet the needs of Chinese consumers. Moreover, domestic policies such as strong subsidies and tax incentives for the new energy vehicle industry also provide additional competitive advantages for local brands, gradually compressing the market space for traditional fuel vehicles.
As we all know, the frequent association between Porsche Panamera and Xiaomi has often topped the hot search list, even being jokingly referred to by consumers as "Bao Shi Mi". Xiaomi has cleverly used the "visual benchmarking" strategy to compare with well-known brands and models, quickly building a cognitive framework for consumers about new products, thereby anchoring the product's value in consumers' minds. In addition, many domestic brand models are also benchmarking the Porsche Panamera in design, performance, and intelligence, striving to occupy a place in the high-end market. For example, the Tengshi Z9GT, Ji氪001, and MG MG7, etc., these models have shown the competitiveness of domestic brands in the high-end market in terms of design, performance, and intelligence, providing a luxury experience comparable to the Panamera.
In addition, there is the Cayenne, which is the most popular model sold by Porsche and can be said to be the "cash cow" of the Porsche brand. Its status is similar to that of the Panamera, but with a lower price, it sells more than the Panamera. Three to five years ago, when new energy brands were still in their infancy, the Porsche Cayenne, as a real million-level luxury SUV, was slightly higher than the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE, and the same platform "brother" Audi Q7, and was very popular in China with high recognition, and of course, there were many people buying it. Under the halo of Porsche, the landing price of the Cayenne is almost twice as expensive as these popular electric SUVs in terms of price, and buying a Cayenne can only be a choice for those who are rich and willful.
Nowadays, whether it is NIO, Li Auto, or BYD, they have all launched similar high-end models, which pay more attention to technology and innovation, giving consumers a sense of the future and belonging, which Porsche currently finds it difficult to provide. In addition, in recent years, Chinese consumer demand has increasingly tended to combine intelligence, technology, and environmental concepts. Porsche, which solely relies on brand premium and sports car performance, seems somewhat "inadequate" in this new consumer trend. Data shows that 48% of respondents are unwilling to pay a premium for foreign brands. Among consumers willing to pay a premium, only 3% of respondents are willing to accept foreign brand prices 20% higher than the prices of Chinese high-end brands.
In response, Porsche is also struggling to keep up with the changes in the Chinese consumer market. According to the latest news, Porsche plans to launch a pure electric model before the end of 2024 to further enrich Porsche's pure electric product line, and in 2026, it will launch a new model in the SUV field. It has also clearly stated that by 2030, 80% of the delivered models will be pure electric models.
Porsche now faces such a fiercely competitive domestic market, and it is not easy to break through the encirclement. Once domestic companies have technology and cost leadership, in the next 3-5 years, if Porsche still cannot seize more market share, then its survival space in the Chinese market may be very limited.