Both Jaguar and BMW have invested heavily in the electric vehicle market. There’s a growing demand for high quality luxury electric vehicles, especially in Europe. Now Porsche has decided to enter the fray. The company recently unveiled the Porsche Taycan — the company’s first ever all electric car.
“Less is more applies here too,” Ivo van Hulten, Director Interior Design Style Porsche at Porsche AG, explained in a press release. “The Taycan interior combines design elements typical for the brand with a new type of user experience, and impresses with its simple elegance.”
Hopefully the electric debut gets off to a better start than sister brand Audi’s e-Tron which had a bumpy launch. The Taycan’s top Turbo S version is priced at $185,000 and hopes to blow the Tesla out of the market.
Sustainable Luxury
“It’s a true Porsche,” the brand’s chief executive officer, Oliver Blume, said at the German leg of the event that unveiled a white version of the sedan. “But it’s different than anything we built in the past 70 years. Porsche is positioning itself for a sustainable future.”
The reviews are in and they read like good news for Porsche.
The Taycan “is a turning point for Porsche and the industry as it raises the technical bar for electric vehicles beyond Tesla,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean wrote in a report. The Taycan should “be profitable from launch given Porsche’s proven pricing power, albeit at vastly reduced margins as compared with gas-powered models.”
Off to the Races
Porsche’s bet seems to be paying off. Bloomberg reports:
“At last count, the sleek car had attracted about 30,000 deposits. The car is partly financed by a 1 billion-euro ($1.1 billion) green Schuldschein promissory note, the first for a carmaker. It may quickly outsell the iconic 911 that has led Porsche’s appeal among the world’s wealthy for decades. Half of deliveries will be all-electric or hybrid by 2025.”
Challenges for Tesla
Meanwhile Tesla faces speculation on whether it can deliver profit amid waning demand for older models while sales rise for the cheaper Model 3.
As Bloomberg reports:
“The technologically refined car will go head-to-head with Tesla’s aging Model S, after Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Audi opted for SUVs to kickstart their electric-car offerings. Tesla is facing concerns over whether it can deliver sustainable profits amid waning demand for its older models while sales rise for the cheaper Model 3.”
“Model S and X volumes have plummeted in the last two quarters and have been a huge drag on Tesla’s recent financials,” Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a note.
