Purists bemoan Porsche's rapid expansion into non-traditional segments, while buyers eat the cars up with ravenous glee. It's a no-brainer for the people looking to make Porsche into the strongest, most profitable company they can, and CEO Matthias Mueller is at the head of the charge.
His plan? To boost sales to over 200,000 vehicles per year by 2018, more than doubling Porsche's current volume. How will he do it? By releasing at least one new model or model variant every year through 2018. Err, huh?
Well, Porsche won't be adding completely new vehicles in every case, though some--the entry-level cars in the Boxster and Cayman niche--will be new or largely new. Others will be variants of existing models, much like the 22 available versions of the 911.
By building a car for every type of owner, Porsche hopes to strip away the stumbling blocks to ownership, expanding its marketshare and building sales volumes.
Some of the juiciest bits in Mueller's revelations include a Porsche 550 successor--a small, midengine sports car, in his words. It could arrive as soon as 2014, and Mueller thinks the 550 name is the perfect fit.
At the other end of the spectrum, Porsche is considering a new model to slot between the 911 GT2 RS and the 918 Spyder, though that matter hasn't yet been decided.
We'll keep our eyes peeled for any further tasty morsels, but it looks like we're in for a good seven years.
[Auto News -- sub. req.]
