NEW YORK -- Porsche dealers coping with frustrated customers eager to buy the sold-out Macan will get some breathing room soon. Porsche is increasing U.S. allocation for the midsize crossover. Extra vehicles are to begin arriving in May.
"We do not want to continue to have a situation where we have a waiting list of five to six months," Porsche Cars North America CEO Detlev von Platen said. "This is the reason we have decided to jump on the allocation for the United States and increase this for this year."
Von Platen wouldn't say by how much allocation will increase, other than to describe it as "substantial." He has said that U.S. demand could support Macan sales of 18,000 annually.
Porsche has sold 9,841 Macans in the 11 months since it went on sale in May.
The change will involve shifting production from other markets to the U.S., von Platen said. He would not disclose which markets would lose Macan allocation.
Dealers have been clamoring for more Macans. In late February, Porsche had just 150 Macans available in the U.S., spread across the brand's 189 dealerships. Several dealers have said they try to keep at least one Macan in stock as a demonstration vehicle, but customers get upset when the dealers won't sell the demos.
In March, Macan sales were 1,180, the second month that its U.S. sales have topped 1,000. Macan sales hit 1,263 in May. Andre Oosthuizen, Porsche's vice president of marketing, said the jump was because of an increase in West Coast port deliveries after bad weather had created restrictions in prior months.
