Does the ongoing SUV apocalypse have you down? Here’s some good news: People are still buying fun cars, even if they’re expensive and in some cases way more normal than they used to be. Porsche, for example, had its best sales year ever in 2018. I’ll take that news over the opposite.
Porsche reported that it delivered 256,255 vehicles worldwide in 2018, a 4 percent increase year-over-year. At a time when new car sales are plateauing or falling off for some brands, it’s good news for the enthusiast-centric German brands.
Some takeaways from the sales data released by the company:
- The Macan, naturally, is the biggest seller worldwide, and Porsche moved about 86,000 of them. The Cayenne came a close-ish second at 71,458 cars, which was actually up from 2017.
- China remains the biggest market and sales were up 12 percent year-over-year there despite an overall slowdown.
- The 911 is still holding its own, with 35,000 examples sold—a 10 percent year-over-year increase. And the all-new 992 isn’t even on dealer lots yet.
- The Panamera showed strong growth to rise to 38,443 cars sold, which ain’t bad considering the overall decline of sedans everywhere.
- The 718 Boxster and Cayman had a so-so year, with sales actually down slightly in 2018 at 24,750 for both models. (Porsche didn’t give a breakdown of those models, sadly.)
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The last one bums me out a bit, as the 718s are exceptionally great sports cars and in some ways even more fun to drive than the 911, at least according to some folks around our office. But the global sports car market is slowing down, and I have a largely anecdotally-based theory that audiences haven’t really warmed up to the turbo four-cylinder engines in those cars. Buy more 718s, you jokers!
Anyway, I’m glad to hear this not because I’m some Porsche stan, but because all of Porsche’s current cars are generally excellent, well-built and a lot of fun to drive. It’s good to see an enthusiast brand do well.
This year should be interesting too, with the Cayenne and Macan having recently received updates, an all-new 992 911 for sale and the upcoming all-electric Porsche Taycan on the horizon. Let’s hope the Porsche that runs on electricity will be worthy of the badge, and not some warmed-over Audi.
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