Sunday, January 22, 2006

Porsche Cayman S - Who is going to buy?

I've been trying to rationalize Porsche's latest sports car, the Cayman S. It's definitely an unusual move. I think Porsche will have no problem selling all of it's intended production the first year, but as the vehicle matures in the market, the people who had to have it, will be satisfied. Then what?

The only thing Porsche can really do is move the car downmarket by utilizing the less powerful 3.2 and 2.7 liter engines from the Boxster S and Boxster, respectively. And, since a hardtop should cost less than it's convertible version, you would expect Porsche to lower the price on the Cayman (non-S) accordingly. Something tells me this isn't going to happen. I believe even the Cayman 2.7 (for lack of a better tag), if it were to be produced, would be priced $1000 or so higher than the similar Boxster. This is all a hunch, because I can't picture Porsche trying to move a car that costs less than $43k base (Porsche dealers would rather sell a higher priced car). Maybe for that reason alone we won't see a Cayman 2.7.

Also, I find it real unlikely that people will be paying close to sticker on the Cayman S this time next year. I've seen some of these cars at the dealer optioned-out to $65k, some were close to $80k. The Cayman's only real competition at that price would be the 911 and the Corvette Z06, and you could include the regular Vette as the bargain in the mix. Certainly few people would be cross-shopping Porsches and Corvettes, but it would make me really start to consider a 911 if my optioning of the Cayman took the price north of $70k.

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