Dealers collectively protest against the pressure on the warehouse, what happened to Porsche?

虎嗅APP

2024-05-26 20:49Posted on the official account of Beijing Tiger Sniff APP

Dealers collectively protest against the pressure on the warehouse, what happened to Porsche?

Header image source丨Visual China

Produced by丨Tiger Sniff Automobile Group

Author丨Li Mingyang

Recently, Tiger Sniff Auto noticed that a number of well-known self-media big V broke the news on Weibo: a number of Porsche dealers are collectively protesting against the behavior of new energy vehicles to reduce inventory, on the grounds that the sales are too poor and overwhelmed. Originally, the involution and price war of the new energy vehicle market were only limited to the low-end market, but now this pressure has also spread to the high-end price band.

The pressure of dealer operation is on the verge of life and death

It is understood that the reason for the collective protest of Porsche dealers is that the price of pure electric models led by Taycan and Macan EV is too high to sell much. However, Porsche China is still trying to complete the wholesale sales task by pressing inventory, and the dealers' operating pressure is on the verge of life and death, and after finally being overwhelmed, they collectively protest and refuse to accept Porsche's behavior of pressing inventory.

Image source: Visual China

In fact, not only pure electric models, but also the sales of Porsche's fuel product line are also declining, and dealers can only choose to sell cars at a reduced price in order to clear their inventory in time, and some even lose money. In this context, if you want to accept the pressure, especially considering that the average transaction price of Porsche is two to three times that of BBA and five to eight times that of Volkswagen Toyota, dealers really cannot afford it.

At present, some dealers have put forward demands such as stopping car entry, providing subsidies, and replacing executives.

Porsche China's performance fell sharply

The contradiction between dealers and car sales companies must not be formed in a day or two.

In 2023, Porsche's global sales will be 320,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 3%, but the sales of 79,000 units in the Chinese market are the only declining market in the world, with a year-on-year decline of 15%. Last year, Porsche sold a total of 4,151 Taycans in the Chinese market. Although the sales volume is okay, it is still much less than the Porsche gasoline model. In 2024, Porsche's sales decline has not stopped, with 16,430 units delivered in the first quarter, compared with 21,365 units in the same period last year, a year-on-year decline of 25%.

Porsche Taycan, image source: Visual China

In terms of revenue, according to Porsche's financial report for the first quarter of 2024, Porsche's overall revenue was 9 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 10.8%. Vehicle sales amounted to EUR 8.1 billion, down 12.7 percent year-on-year. Due to the combined impact of lower sales volumes and lower transaction prices, Porsche's gross profit in the automotive business was 23.4 percent, down 30.3 percent from the same period last year.

A series of sales and financial results can be summed up in one sentence: Porsche itself is mired in business growth. The slowdown in economic growth and the fierce price war in the auto market have made Porsche, which has always been known for its high gross profit margin, also begin to face growth difficulties.

Porsche Macan EV, image source: Visual China

How to solve the conflict with dealers, the author also chatted with the regional manager in charge of channel management of a luxury brand, and he believes that Porsche will most likely first lower this year's sales target, reduce the pressure on all parties, and then reach a consensus through negotiations. Then a new business rebate policy was introduced, in the form of subsidies, to ease the relationship with dealers.

So far, Porsche China has not responded to this. As for how the situation will develop in the future, Tiger Sniff Auto will continue to pay attention.

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