Why Porsche’s SUVs Outsell its Sports Cars in China

Porsche’s less-flashy sedans and SUVs are more popular in China than its sports cars, dealer Jebsen Motors says.

What’s the best-selling Porsche model in China?

Hint: It has four doors, not two.

Like most luxury carmakers, Porsche has grown fast in China, though its most popular car in the country isn’t its speedy 911 sports car but its four-door Panamera sedan and Cayenne SUV.

Jebsen Motors, the auto division of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate Jebsen Group, is Porsche’s largest distributor in China. It said this week that it will be expanding in the country, opening its second dealership in Shanghai to keep up with surging demand. In addition to Shanghai, Jebsen sells Porsches in Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.

Mark Bishop, the group director for Jebsen Motors, recently talked with The Wall Street Journal about the luxury market in China and why the country prefers sedans over sports cars. The following interview has been edited.

The Wall Street Journal: How are luxury cars doing in China at the moment? Are sales as strong as they were last year?

Mr. Bishop: It’s still very buoyant. The luxury end of the business still enjoys significant volume growth. We’ve seen meteoric growth here at Porsche, from around 350 to 400 cars in 2004 for all of China, to around 15,000 in 2010. China has become the No. 2 market for Porsche world-wide.

At Jebsen last year, we sold approximately one-third of the total volume for Porsche in China. In 2010, our Porsche Centre in Shanghai became the first dealership in China to sell over 1,000 units in a single year. But with more dealers and competition, our opportunities for growth might not be as great.

WSJ: Who are your competitors: other brands or other dealers?

Mr. Bishop: As the dealer network grows, it adds competition. The territories that you operate become a bit more confined. But there’s also the element of other competitive brands, particularly the other German stables: BMW, Mercedes, Audi

WSJ: What sells well in China?

Mr. Bishop: China is the biggest single market for the Cayenne and the Panamera. Considering the Panamera has only been on the market for 18 months, it’s a significant achievement. But it’s also an indication of the kind of cars that are popular here. Those two models are 80% of the business.

We’re still seeing a significant increase in the sports car too. But I think China has always been a big-car market. There’s a love for SUVs. There’s always been a chauffeur culture too, and I think that still exists today. But we’re seeing more and more people driving themselves. Even those who use it with a driver, we’re now seeing them on the weekends with the family out and the father driving.

WSJ: Are you worried about a slowdown in China?

Mr. Bishop: There are two potential risks. No. 1, economic slowdown. No. 2, social issues, or in what the government does in regards to buying cars and what it does about regulating them in the cities. Decisions can be made fast, and we have to work within it.

Via WSJ-S.A
Luxury News / Golden Choice by Lux Creative International

Team Korea - America’s Cup Press Presentation

Team Korea announces top class crew

The America’s Cup Trophy to Visited Korea for first time

 

Team Korea announces top class crew

Team Korea today announced a top class crew chosen to sail in the America’s Cup World series events, opting for a blend of experience and raw talent that includes multiple World and European Champions, and seasoned Olympic and America’s Cup campaigners.

Headlining the crew as Skipper and Helmsman as announced last week is Britain’s Chris Draper, who has guided Team Korea’s selection in order to maximise their skill and familiarity with each other, which he believes will enable the team to quickly gel and be up to speed with the powerful and lightning quick AC45 yachts.

Chris said, "I’m delighted with the team we’ve brought together, as I feel we have just the right mix of talent, know-how, the weight we wanted, and of course a super-high level of professionalism. I couldn’t be happier in being able to help pull everyone together into what should become a very efficient, fast and successful unit."

Team Korea Crew

Skipper/Helm - Chris Draper, UK
Wing Trimmer - Troy Tindill, New Zealand
Float - Chris Brittle, UK
Trim - Mark Bulkeley, UK
Bow - Matt Cornwell, UK

Leaning heavily on the skippers sailing background in selecting a mainly British crew, Team Korea CEO Kim Dong-Young commented, "we thought it was important to allow Chris to make recommendations for the crew where he felt he could achieve the fastest learning curve and translate that into performance on the water. We had an excellent group of people to choose our skipper from and we’re grateful to everyone who expressed their interest, but I am very pleased with Chris who has already shown that he is reliable, thorough and very dedicated. It was his first visit to Seoul last week, and he coped admirably with everything that came his way. Korean’s are loyal people and friendship is important in our culture, so we are pleased he has turned to his former colleagues who have an impressive track record in the sport – this shows both confidence and loyalty in making these difficult decisions."

Troy Tindill from New Zealand is presently the only member of the crew to have sailed an AC45, having worked with ACRM as a Boat Captain most recently, and has been helming the America’s Cup yacht in training sessions. At 28 years old, he’s an accomplished sailor having competed in world youth match racing regattas and the world tour proper. He’s also been the boat Captain for the successful Wild Oats X and XI for the past six-years, recording five Sydney-Hobart race wins, and is the current record holder for the race. He’s an offshore sailor too and competed in Maxi’s for many years before joining ACRM where he’s been responsible for the AC45’s since the initial launch and sea trials. Troy said, "having sailed these yachts for most of the year, I am keen to get into a competitive environment and sail them under real pressure. I think Chris and I can work well together and get the boat going pretty quickly – I like his style and approach. It’s going to be quite a first race, I can’t wait."

Joining as trimmer, Mark Bulkeley (32) sailed alongside Draper for two years in their Extreme Sailing series campaign with Oman Sail Masirah, which culminated in them winning the World Championship in 2009, so is delighted to be making his America’s Cup debut in the new style catamarans, "ever since the America’s Cup made the move to multi-hulls, I have been excited about the prospect of getting involved, and so to join Team Korea is a dream opportunity, and I’m sure my time sailing with Chris will be a huge benefit," he commented. Mark has sailed Tornado’s for Britain at the Olympics, been part of the Team GBR squad for eight years, and in the top flight of catamaran and other disciplines for the past ten years, taking Silver at the ISAF World Championships. He was also on the winning Oman Sail Masirah yacht in the Extreme Asia series last year with three first places.

The float role goes to big Chris Brittle (29) whose weight and size are perfect for the position. No stranger to top class sailing, he was the training partner to Ben Ainslie through the 2004 Olympics, then joined the +39 America’s Cup team as a grinder for the next three years, racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia. He then became a sailing coach, starting out with Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson in the Star Class for the 2008 Olympics, while joining the AudiMed Cup circuit with the Portuguese TP52 Team, a period that may bear fruits in the waters off Cascais in the coming weeks. From there he joined Team Origin, racing in the LV events and the MedCup, finishing 4th overall last year. Chris said, "I think sailing these yachts is going to be pretty demanding as the action appears to be non-stop, but it should prove really exciting, and with a lot of new teams on a level playing ground, it gives us a great opportunity to excel."

On the Bow is Matt Cornwell (37), a veteran of three AC campaigns and with an enviable track record in the sport. He said, "I’m excited to be joining a new team for a new era in the Cup, one that I think we can be quickly competitive in. I am looking forward to analysing how the boats perform at speed and what the extra demands may be." In his career he’s competed on everything from TP52’s to the Extreme circuit, finishing 2nd overall in 2008 with Team Origin. He’s sailed Louis Vuitton events, Maxis, offshore races, the Admiral’s Cup and has many years match racing behind him, winning the Match Racing World Tour last year with Ainslie’s team. Matt is a highly respected sailor, quietly and calmly dealing with every situation on the boat, while earning a reputation as a fearsome competitor.

Kim Dong-Young said, "I believe this is a strong team with huge potential. We have chosen carefully, mixing together different talents, skills and experience from amongst the many people who were interested to join the team. We certainly want to bring in Korean sailors in as we progress onto the AC72’s, and will begin training them soon, but this selection gives us the greatest opportunity to learn fast without too many risks, yet has the possibility to be very competitive we feel. It will be very interesting to see how we evolve and grow together now with the challenges ahead as we begin training, and then move to that very first exciting race in Cascais. We’re looking forward to it. Kamsahamnida."

Team Korea is scheduled to begin training on July 16th in Lisbon, before moving to Cascais towards the end of the month ahead of the America’s Cup World Series regatta beginning on August 6th.


About:

Team Korea - known as the White Tiger Challenge, this is the first Korean team to ever enter the America’s Cup competition and will race against 8 other teams from 7 nations.

The America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport, now 160-years old. First contested in 1851, it was won by the Yacht America at Cowes, UK and remained in the USA for 132 years.

The Louis Vuitton Cup was first contested in 1983. The Louis Vuitton Cup Series will be staged in San Francisco in the summer of 2013 and the winner will go on to compete for the America’s Cup.

The 2011-2012 America’s Cup World Series begins in Portugal on August 6th, the first of 8 regattas planned in this series. Team Korea’s AC45 yacht will cross the start line, marking the first time a Korean team has ever competed in this historic competition.

Via America's Cup
Luxury News / Golden Choice by Lux Creative International

Format defined for Louis Vuitton Cup

The Regatta Director has issued the dates and format for the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America's Cup Challenger Series. To take place in 2013, the objective of the challenger series is to both build and identify the strongest possible challenger to meet the defender in the America's Cup Finals.

The next Louis Vuitton Cup will consist of five stages, all of the challengers will participate in at least the first three, before eliminations begin. The first day of racing for the Louis Vuitton Cup will be July 4th, 2013 (changed from July 13th). The last possible day of racing will be September 1.

"There are nearly two full months of competition, and all of the challengers will be racing for at least the first five weeks," said Iain Murray, the Regatta Director. "As a group, the challengers wanted to introduce a format that would strike a good balance between allowing the potential of some of the new teams to develop over time, while still ensuring the top teams were constantly improving, so that the eventual winner will be prepared to take on the defender."

The first three stages of the competition will be used to select four semi finalists:

• Series 1: A series of 4 fleet races. Each race will score 10 points for the winner, 6 points for second place, 2 points for third place. No points are awarded for subsequent places.
• Series 2: A Round Robin Match Race Series. The winner of each race will score 10 points, the loser no points.
• Series 3: A Round Robin Match Race Series. The winner of each race will score 12 points, the loser no points.

The top four teams at the conclusion of these first three series will proceed to the semi finals, with the top ranked challenger racing the fourth place team and the second ranked team racing the third placed.

In the semi finals, each match win is worth one point and the winner of each pairing will be the first team to win four points.

These two winners will then face each other in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, where the first team to win five points (one point per win) will become the challenger and proceed to the America's Cup Finals to meet the defender.

Over time, the Louis Vuitton Cup has proved to be a remarkable training ground for the challengers. Since its inception in 1983, the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup has gone on to win the America's Cup four out of seven times. Previous to 1983, no challenger had won the America's Cup. The 2013 event will mark the 30 year anniversary of the first Louis Vuitton Cup.

Via America's Cup
Luxury News / Golden Choice by Lux Creative International