Zastava_101

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2007/01/...28000-per-car/

AFBLUE

Wow that's almost as good as the profit that dealers get on the GT 500

htwag

Market share doesn't mean much to them. Drop the price and sell more.

Knight

did they just take the companies porfit per year and divid by the amount of cars they sell to get that number?

If they did then GM and Ford would show that they pay people to drive there cars quite often.

Zastava_101

Pretty much, yeah.

Lalo

Wow... just as I had suspected.
Porsches are horribly overpriced. You're paying for a name
It's like buying designer clothes, you don't pay for the materials used, but for the name.

hi5.0

I hope the Ford dealers don't get any ideas or use that for some kind of justification, now. GT500? Oh yeah, never mind. Too late.

scottie1113

Not quite the same, and if you haven't driven one you can't understand just how good they really are. But in the US you can't use the performance potential legally so I think they're more of a status symbol. If I were looking for a Porsche, which I'm not, I'd be searching for a 928 S4 or possibly a Carrera.

Buying any new car doesn't make a lot of economic sense to me. The reason is depreciation. Sure, a used car may cost a little more to maintain but when you figure that a car can lose up to 50% of its value in the first three to five years, depending upon brand and model, it's a no brainer to me.

Hollywood_North GT

Quite true.

Buying a new car rarely makes economic sense. The most economical way to acquire a car is to buy one that is about two or three years old, then drive it for 15 to 20 years. That's the most finanicially efficient way to do it.

Fortunately for automakers, people rarely do either.

That said, with some of the deep discounts that automakers like Ford have been offering on vehicles in recent years, you can get a deal which makes buying a new car seem almost financially sensible.

97svtgoin05gt

Taking a bath like this when BUYING the Porsche' is only the beginning. Then they start doing things like $150 oil changes and $1,500 brake jobs etc etc.

Knight

since the $28,000 is based on company profit then the $150 oil change and $1500 is prob part of what is making that $28,000.

scottie1113

Porsches actually hold their value pretty well so the price of a used one reflects the depreciation from the original purchase price regardless of how much profit is built into the price. This is true of any car. Return On Investment is a function of Profit Per Car. To take a couple of extreme examples look at Rolls Royce/Bentley and McClaran, and if you don't like those examine Saleen. No profit, no return. See my later comment on Ford.

The cost of an oil change (none of my friends who have or have had Porsches have paid that much-can't speak to the 1500 brake job-when I had my 914 done at an indepedent service facility it was a whole lot less than that, even factoring in price increases over about 20 years) and other work is kept at the dealership and doesn't go back to Porsche. Dealerships are their own profit centers.

But why shouldn't Porsche make $28k per car? They build great cars and sell every one they build without resorting to any special rebate or disount programs. Until they stepped into the SUV market they were a niche company that built great sports cars. They chose to keep production relatively small and it's certainly worked very well for them.

I don't know how many vehicles they build every year-too lazy to look it up- but contrast their $28k profit per car with Ford, which cnn.money reported today managed to lose $24k PER MINUTE last year. Which company do you think is financially stronger?

I hope I'm preaching to the choir, but folks, this is business. Obviously Porsche gets it; Ford doesn't. Porsche offers an appealing product, sells all it can build, and makes money. Need I say more?

Hollywood_North GT

Thing is, I don't think Ford could ever position themselves as a niche automaker the way Porsche does. After all, Ford is the "everyman" car company - or at least it was. These days, it seems to be struggling in search of an identity.

scottie1113

I wasn't suggesting that Ford position themselves a niche automaker. They're far too big for that. As far as being the "everyman's" company, I'm afraid that mantle has passed to Toyota.

I think you're right about Ford struggling to find an identitiy. So sad.

Moosetang

Were the worst to happen and Ford to defualt on its loans, you'd see someone snap up the Ford name and Mustang line in order to keep producing the Pony. That's about the only way "Ford" could end up a niche company.