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The economic downturn seems to be little more than a speed bump for the world's super-luxury automakers. The latest evidence is Porsche's Panamera, which the Stuttgart company unveiled at the Shanghai auto show on Apr. 20. Selling for a bit over $100,000 in Germany before taxes, and boasting a V8 engine capable of up to 500 horsepower, Porsche's first four-door sedan seems almost an act of defiance in a time of environmental consciousness and less-conspicuous consumption.
But Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) is likely to meet its goal of selling 20,000 Panameras per year, says Marc-René Tonn, senior analyst at M.M. Warburg Investment Research in Hamburg. Though the Panamera would no doubt sell better in boom times, Tonn says, "there will always be a certain demand." In this rarefied segment of the auto market, "CO2 emissions and gas mileage are not an issue."
In fact, German carmakers have recently been expanding their fleet of top-of-the-line cars—never mind double-digit declines in mass-market auto sales in the U.S. and Europe. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a unit of Munich-based BMW (BMWG.DE), also used the Shanghai event to release more details about a planned new model in addition to the classic Phantom.
Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves said on Apr. 20 that the new sedan, which has had the working title RR4, will be dubbed the Rolls-Royce Ghost and begin production at the end of 2009. Equipped with a 500-horsepower V12 motor, the Ghost will offer sportier performance than the stately Phantom.
Full Article: Business Week - German Luxury Carmakers Press on Despite Slump
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