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Analysis of Marketing Strategy of Porsche
Di Lai1,a,*
1Hankamer school of business, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States, 76706
a.Dilai02429@gmail.com
*corresponding author
Abstract: Porsche is a famous sports car brand, and its history can be traced back to 1900,
and it has also overcome many crises during this period. At that time, Porsche unlike other
sports car brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, Porsche broke with
conventional thinking and started making SUVs. It was this potentially damaging decision
that allowed Porsche to develop. And today it has not only the most advanced technology
but also the most profitable sports car brand. Therefore, in this paper, the marketing strategy
of Porsche is mainly studied by applying the marketing theory of 4Ps. The study found that
the reason why Porsche can continue to make profits is because of its precise control of
consumer demand, strong product strength, marketing strategy for luxury brand image, and
flexible strategies for responding to different regions.
Keywords: marketing strategy, price, sales, Porsche
1. Introduction
Porsche is one of the most famous sports car manufacturers of the 20th century. As everyone
knows, sports cars are more sensitive to the economic environment. If the economic environment
was in recession, the sports car market will be hit harder than the family car market. So later,
Porsche decided to start a project to build SUV models, which saved Porsche from bankruptcy.
Unlike other sports car manufacturers, Porsche joined the production of the SUV model early.
Therefore, Porsche’s influence in the field of sports cars continues with the sales of its SUV model
and other entry models. The marketing strategy of Porsche is mainly studied by applying the
marketing theory of 4Ps in this paper. Through the method of 4P model, it can be determined that
Porsche began to become profitable through effective product division, price positioning, and
market positioning and other aspects. This research studies the marketing strategies of Porsche. The
successful marketing strategy of Porsche has a positive role in the luxury car brand and other brands
can also actively develop the technology in the automotive field like Porsche, so as to increase their
brand value. The relevant research on Porsche in this paper can provide references for other brands.
2. The Marketing Theory of 4Ps
The origins of the marketing Theory of 4ps back to 1960, which was formalized by Harvard
professor Neil Borden, also known as the four P's of marketing, refers to the four key elements of a
marketing strategy: product, price, place and promotion. By paying attention to the following four
components of the marketing mix, a business can maximize its chances of a product being
recognized and bought by customers [1].
Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Management Research and Economic Development
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/20/20230202
© 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Figure 1: Four key elements of a marketing strategy [1].
2.1. Product
Because of the extension of Porsche's brand image, Porsche has reached different market segments
through more profitable product lines and realized the diversification of its business portfolio. 2 In
first, Porsche's 2002 introduction of the Cayenne marked the unveiling of a new production facility
in Leipzig, Saxony, which once accounted for nearly half of Porsche's annual output [3]. And
Cayenne sales accounted for 53.6% of Porsche’s total sales. Prior to this, Porsche obtained market
data, when the sales of SUVs in its most important North American market skyrocketed. George
Peterson, president of AutoPacific, a marketing research company in Tustin, California, also said, "
Our survey shows that 65% of potential buyers under the age of 30 intend to buy an SUV, while
another 34% of the general public appear to want to do the same." [4]. So that is why Porsche wants
to break the tradition and start making SUV models. Just as Porsche says stylish design and
everyday practicality are not mutually exclusive [5]. After the good market response caused by
Cayenne, Porsche successively launched Panamera, Macan to meet the market demand. And
Taycan is also a sports car redesigned by Porsche considering the sustainable development strategy
of the current era. And ahead of Porsche's landmark potential listing late last year, the company let
investors know its electric vehicles would be very profitable in the long run [6]. The Stuttgart-based
manufacturer believes consumers are willing to pay more for battery technology and plans to use
their willingness to its advantage [6]. In addition, Porsche's product strength should not be
underestimated. From the beginning, Porsche Cayenne was produced on the same platform as
Volkswagen's Touareg, sharing many parts, which saved Porsche a lot of costs. According to the
survey, it saved Porsche at least 50 million euros. Through January 12, 2023, Porsche Cars North
America (PCNA) announced that U.S. retail deliveries will total 70,065 vehicles in 2022, the best
year ever for PCNA and surpassing the previous record set in 2021. Deliveries in the fourth quarter
also hit a record high for the period, reaching 20,955 vehicles, up 14 percent from a year earlier [7].
The sales data in table 3 also shows Porsche's astonishing profits.
Table 1: Sales of all Porsche Models in 2002-2003 [4].
Model
2002/03
2003/04
Vehicle Sales Porsche
66,803
76,827
911
27,789
23,704
Boxster
18,411
12,988
Carrera GT
/
222
Cayenne
20,603
39,913
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Table 2: Sales of all Porsche Models in 2021-2022 [7].
Model
2022
2021
911
10,204
10,042
718
3,484
4,292
Taycan
7,271
9,419
Panamera
4,224
4,257
Cayenne
21,194
17,299
Macan
23,688
24,716
Grand Total
70,065
70,025
2.2. Price
Porsche's positioning is high-end and luxurious in the automotive field. Luxury consumers buy
products and brands that they perceive to have similar or complementary symbolic power to their
self-image, which creates coherence between brand and image [8]. As a high-end brand, the design
of Porsche is unique and has personality. Porsche has a very classic family-style exterior design,
which not only saves costs but also increases brand recognition. And Porsche provides more
personalized optional customization, which can better allow consumers to reflect their individual
needs. For instance, if some consumers want a more lightweight interior, Porsche can provide
interior options made of carbon fiber; for some consumers who want more powerful power and
focused driving experience, Porsche provides a Turbo version and GTS version; if consumers just
want a luxury family car, Porsche can also provide options such as child sears, Premium audio, and
more practical option. These differential choices will also make a very large price range.
2.3. Promotion
For Promotion, 911 can play a very good promotional effect. First of all, as a very well-known and
historical sports car brand, the Porsche 911 is now the strongest road sports car in New North and
has always been at the forefront of the list. These achievements of the Porsche 911 have affirmed its
status as a sports car and proved that its performance and technology are very leading. Second,
Porsche has established a good brand image. It donated 2.5 million US dollars during the 2011
Japanese earthquake and donated 5 million euros to those in need during the new crown. And
thirdly, Porsche has also done a lot of promotional activities. For example, Porsche always has done
a lot of influential activities, one of the activities is Rennsport Reunion that a grand gathering to
commemorate various models of Porsche in the past and present. Porsche design also cooperated
with Huawei’s Mate series products, and Porsche’s sports car like 911 and 918 always featured in
very popular movies like Fast and Furious, or magazines. Porsche also carried out a very successful
digital marketing campaign The power of balance when launching the Cayman model, in which
"advanced engineering. Ambitious. The perfect fusion of man and machine embodies the true
Porsche spirit.” [9] Porsche through this new marketing method allows people to better interact with
the brand and allows more people to experience the uniqueness of the new Cayman through games.
All in all, the elite and luxury brand image created by Porsche has been deeply rooted in the hearts
of the people. There is no doubt that Porsche’s marketing is very successful.
2.4. Place
Porsche's market positioning is very accurate, in the North American market where SUVs exploded
at that time. As a sports car brand, Porsche has produced an SUV with powerful performance and
strong practicality. Moreover, the Porsche Cayenne was produced on the same platform as
Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Management Research and Economic Development
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Volkswagen at that time, which had good product strength and saved a lot of costs. So, Cayenne is a
very successful product of Porsche. In addition, the sales of 718 are different in different countries.
For example, in the United States, the sales of 718 Boxster and Cayman live in the shadow of 911
[10]. But then Porsche launched the 718 Cayman GT4 and Spyder to meet the needs of the
American market. However, the situation is different in China, where 2.0-liter cars are much
cheaper than 2.5-liter cars due to China's emissions tax regulations. That makes the base 718 more
attractive than the 2.5-liter 718 S or 3.0-liter 911 Carrera [10]. So this is the reason why 718 is very
popular in China. "It is very important that our cars sell very well in China, and we have a lot of
target groups in China, they are very young, and most of them are women. And the main buyers of
Boxster are Chinese women in their 30s, which is very valuable because after they buy a Porsche
car, they will also choose Porsche in the future”, Porsche said. [11]. The Porsche sports-car head
Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser even said, “I have to say that the entire model range wouldn't exist
without China” [10].
3. Conclusion
As Porsche is the most profitable sports car brand in the world, this research mainly uses the
marketing theory of 4p to discuss Porsche’s profit strategy. The study concluded that Porsche dared
to open up new markets and has strong perceptions of market demand. Porsche totally understands
the needs of different customers in different regions. And through continuous improvement of its
own technology and good external marketing and publicity, it will establish a high-performance and
luxurious sports car brand in the hearts of consumers. The advantages of its own brand value
coupled with the personalized option marketing of products make consumers enthusiastic about the
Porsche brand. This research can also apply more data and cases, and analyze how Porsche
accurately grasps the demand of consumers in the process of market research. In the future, under
the trend of vehicle electrification, how Porsche's marketing strategy will change deserves more
research.
References
[1] Kinza Yasar, “4 P's marketing mix”, May 2022,https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Four-Ps
[2] T. Meyers, Marketers learn luxury isn´t simply for the very wealthy, Advertising Age, 75 (37) (2004), pp. 2-3.
[3] “Porsche: 2009 Company Profile Edition 2: Chapter 5 Key Events.” Just - Auto, GlobalData plc, 2009, p. 7–.
[4] Kiplinger’s Money Power, “No sign of SUV sales slowing”, Deseret News, Nov 3, 2000, https://www.deseret.com/
2000/11/3/19536800/no-sign-of-suv-sales-slowing
[5] https://www.porsche.com
[6] Ben O'Hare, “Porsche Believes Soon Its EVs Will Be More Profitable Than Its ICE Vehicles”, Insideevs, Jul 23,
2022, https://insideevs.com/news/599995/porsche-evs-more-profitable/
[7] Porsche Cars North America, Inc., “Porsche reports U.S. retail sales for Q4 and full-year 2022,” January 12,
2023.
[8] Marcelo Royo-Vela, Mónica Pérez Sánchez, Downward price-based luxury brand line extension: Effects on
premium luxury buyer's perception and consequences on buying intention and brand loyalty, European Research
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[9] Marc Helmold, “Performance Excellence in Marketing, Sales and Pricing: Leveraging Change,” Springer Nature,
2022, p61.
[10] Chris Oerkins, “The Porsche 718 Would Not Exist Without China”, NOV 22, 2019, https://www.roadandtrack.co
m/new-cars/future-cars/a29860723/porsche-718-dr-frank-walliser-la-2019-interview/
[11] Nico Ylanan, “Porsche Says 4-Cylinder Engine Helped Boxster, Cayman To Survive”, May 31, 2020, https://www.
motor1.com/news/426223/boxster-cayman-survived-4-cylinder/
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