Porsche: We can match last year's sales growth
 | Porsche's von Platen: "I'm quite optimistic to be a little bit better than the market." |
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DETROIT -- With a second straight year of product launches, Porsche Cars North America should match the sales growth it achieved in 2012, CEO Detlev von Platen said.
Porsche sold a record 35,043 vehicles in the United States last year, up 21 percent from 2011. In an interview at the Detroit auto show, Von Platen wouldn't predict an exact volume or percentage increase for 2013.
"We have a very active year on the product side," von Platen said. "We can believe that the momentum we had at the end of 2012 will keep on, and therefore I'm quite optimistic to be a little bit better than the market."
On tap for 2013: Porsche continues to launch derivatives of the 911. Also, the redesigned Cayman will go on sale in April, and the Panamera sedan gets a freshening later in the year.
The 918 Spyder hybrid sports car arriving this year is expected to burnish the brand's technology image, though sales will be small.
Production of the brand's second crossover, the mid-sized Macan, will begin before year end, and U.S. sales will begin early in 2014, von Platen said.
Porsche also intends to address inventory shortages for the Cayenne SUV, its top seller. Dealers typically had a 23- to 25-day supply last year, he said.
"We have never had such low inventory in the U.S. in 2012, and we're still in this situation," von Platen said.
But more allocation is coming, he said, and the Cayenne supplies should improve by the end of the first quarter.
You can reach Amy Wilson at awilson@crain.com.
