NEW YORK: Not quite unexpectedly, Porsche’s new Macan has been an overwhelming success for the German carmaker, but you can’t have a picnic without inviting a few ants.
Apparently, Porsche’s ants in the United States are ever-growing waiting lists for the midsize SUV, with customers having to wait at least six months after ordering their cars. Jumping in to help American dealers keep their customers, some Porsche executive have vowed to increase Macan supplies in 2015, so that buyers should get the ordered cars more quickly.
“We’re certainly pushing because it’s been a big success,” said Joe Lawrence, COO of Porsche Cars North America, quoted by Automotive News during a Porsche meeting in San Francisco. “We’re having some issues with customers having to wait longer than we’d like, and we don’t want to lose those customers.” On the other hand, Lawrence also mentioned that the Porsche factory in Leipzig is pretty much constrained at the moment, since there is a huge global demand for the model.
During the seven months of 2014 that the Macan was available in the United States, Porsche managed to sell 7,241 units and would have probably increased that number if dealers had been better supplied.
To give you a better picture, seven months of Macan availability almost made Porsche North America reach its goal of 50,000 vehicles sold per year four years earlier than the original plan. Unfortunately, despite Porsche’s best intentions, the Macan’s production cannot be increased in the blink of an eye, especially since about a third of the car’s architecture is shared with the Audi Q5 and is dependent on different suppliers.
