Today’s Shanghai launch of the Porsche Panamera, its first vehicle launch since the 2002 Cayenne sports utility vehicle launch in 2002, shows which way the wind is blowing in the global car industry.
The Cayenne was built with the US market in mind but the Panamera – Porsche’s first saloon/sedan car – has an Asian tilt. The Chinese car market has become the second most important luxury car market in the world, and the Panamera is being launched there in January.
One distinctive quality of the Chinese market is that rich consumers often employ a chauffeur to signal their elevated status and they prize long wheelbase cars. BMW even makes a long wheelbase Series 5 car for the market – a rare variation on its global product approach.
The Porsche Panamera is not exactly a stretch limousine, but it is 16 feet long – just a fraction shorter than BMW’s extended Series 5. That should allow the back-seat passengers to travel in comfort.
I suspect that what goes for the luxury market obtains more widely. The crisis in the US auto market – and the fall of Detroit – will further undermine its dominant status.
We are seeing Chrysler’s reliance on Fiat to produce a small car for the US market, while vehicles in which the US auto manufacturers have specialised – vans and light trucks – are less popular.
