918 owners got another "gift" from Porsche. Not only the values of 918s almost doubled, not only they got 911GT3RS at almost $100k below market, now they get 911 R with market (US) being about $250k over MSRP. Wholesale is $200k as confirmed by my dealer who just paid that amount to their 918 customers to resell back their allocations.
In retrospect it was a great deal. It was available to anybody who had the money so good for those who who had the foresight and passion for porsche to take it.
Agreed. Good call on the original buyers! The 918 purchase will work out to the deal of the century just with the profit on the access to the limited cars for ten years. 😀
While the 918 is a no-brainer, I do wonder how people who've got the business sense to afford these cars jump at the chance to buy an outgoing 911 model that has some stickers and obnoxious upholstery as for the case for the 911R.
Of course I was exaggerating a little but it's amazing how a little packaging and "limited edition" can create hysteria. Porsche can sell it for $200K yet others are willing to pay more than twice that. Whatever people do with their money makes no diffence to me, like I said, this one I don't get. I see it as just another take on the outgoing 911, others seem to disagree - which is totally cool - yet no one says why.
well it's a bit more complicated than just packaging and limited edition...it's a unique mechanical configuration, lots of bespoke pieces just for the R (at least for now ), and Porsche is leveraging the "last of the NA" and "last of the manuals" craze extremely well-even if that's not entirely true for Porsche (they seem to be intent on keeping manuals in production). that said, I agree the current market prices for an R are loco. here's a good conversation with Andreas Preuninger about the development of the R: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRxbgACxlec[/ame]
+1. I am also not on board with their retro styling cues as they seem forced. I don't see these values holding, but at the same time people go crazy for limited edition 911s.
Far too many speculators have or own gt/gtrs/r models cars. That leads to a correction 100% of the time.
Limited editions are just a marketing ploy to sell more cars. That is the whole idea behind exclusivity. Likety most 911 Rs will go straight into a collection and not be driven much. Just look at the buyers group. I have to believe that 918 owners have several other cars in the garage even if they are not collectors per sey. But after all, for a while 918 sales had really stalled and did not immediately sell out. These folks supported Porsche so it works for Porsche - the sell the 911 R at a rarefied price and the buyer gets an instant collectible. I get it. Just that the mass of Porsche owners don't have a chance of ownership and those folks are the real back bone of what has made And kept Porsche popular IMO. Ferrari is a really different dynamic, with so few units made every year all Ferraris are "rare" to some degree even though not necessarily collectible.
You would think that these 918 owners wouldnt care that much for $200k and would keep the car since it's "so special".
I think that is what I was eluding to that these cars will not be on the road so much and stuck away in a garage or collection and a "pure" drivers car will not be driven much since they will not really be available to the public. By the time they come out of the first owner stable the value will be so high with low numbers and low mileage the second owner will likely be a pure collector.
If it was really a ploy to sell more cars, wouldn't Porsche just actually, you know, build more cars? If Porsche were to build 2-3x more GT3RS' and 911Rs, surely they would still sell everyone of them at MSRP and it would be better for Porsche's bottom line. I agree with the rest of your post though... The 918 was far from a sure-thing and the early buyers deserve the 'rewards' of the VIP program. Look back at the CGT; it took years for the prices to get back to MSRP and a lot of original owners took majors baths. That was a risk the original 918 buyers took... Had it played out the same as the CGT, I doubt anyone would be complaining about the 'fairness' of the VIP program.
Of course the 911R was to sell more cars... what better way to get rid of a bunch of 991.1 chassis? And by a bunch they mean 991 of them. That's actually a lot of '69 Camaro houndstooth without air conditioning or radio. I always thought the 918 was a sure thing, primarily because it is a world-beating performance supercar. If you have the means to spend $1M on a car, what's the risk? If it's financial then you really don't have the means.
I am not so sure they could sell 2-3x more GT3RS cars or even "ordinary" GT3s as the video pointed out GT3RS is really for the "track rats" not an everyday driver as no doubt the 911 R could be used. I think if Porsche could sell more run of the mill 911 cars they would but if you look at the selling stats in the Panorama magazine the 911 is not selling so well as some of their other vehicles. The Cayman GT4 is completely sold out from my conservations with a two different Porsche dealers yesterday at a cars and coffee PCA meeting. I believe the Cayman GT4 owners and those who would buy (if they could) the 911 R are relative the same group of folks but the 911 R buyers may have a little fatter wallets. The CGT was really a "one off" actually a race car that got eliminated by the rules and Porsche had all the money already spent on engineering so decided to produce it for the street. I am not sure how profitable that car was to Porsche except to defray some "sunk" racing costs? I would think the 911 R will be very profitable as all 980 allocation is spoken for except a very few last I heard. I don't really care about "fair" as nothing in life is really fair. But just too bad it doesn't seem the pure driver’s car, the 911 R will get in the hands of folks who would really drive the car. Perhaps I am all wrong but I don't think so.
A manual in this car is dumb. My RS is far to quick to make a manual useful on a track, and lack of aero when I feel the aero working even at high road speeds is lunacy. It's a "limited edition" that's a run out. I paid over for my RS, as I had no relation with a dealer or 918 owner. Porsche has subsequently built a whole lot more RS in May/June, and a ton are the "rare" purple. Silver is now the least produced standard color. Values are dropping on RS, lots listed at old "market" but sales are far less. Great car, but not worth what I paid. 918 will be free, or close for the buyers. Porsche is playing Ferrari game. I hope it bites them all in the ass. The "limited" productions are limited to whomever has a check, or whomever pays the most. My local dealer wanted to net 50k on a regular Turbo S to get a '17 Turbo S, not even a 991.2 RS. I'd rather pay a broker that or more than put up with fellating some moron for a friggin' car. You can get RS for close to Monroney now, and GT4's back if you know where to look. RS>>>R
918 will be free, or close for the buyers. Porsche is playing Ferrari game. I hope it bites them all in the ass. The "limited" productions are limited to whomever has a check, or whomever pays the most. My local dealer wanted to net 50k on a regular Turbo S to get a '17 Turbo S, not even a 991.2 RS. I'd rather pay a broker that or more than put up with fellating some moron for a friggin' car. I guess the difference is when dealing with Ferrari you knew what the game was but it is kind of a new paradigm with Porsche, at least to me. It appears they are trying to get in the same rarified atmosphere as Ferrari and Porsche fans are not yet adjusted to the different factory thinking from Porsche. Lets hope the thinking does not prevail in the future asthat kind of thinking is not what Porsche built its image it its prior history. One persons opinion!