ATLANTA — The coronavirus pandemic has complicated Porsche's rollout of a "milestone" model in the U.S.
Deliveries here of Porsche's first battery-electric vehicle, the Taycan, ramped up early this year, and demand has been brisk in the U.S. and globally.
But as COVID-19 cases surfaced in Germany, Taycan production at the Zuffenhausen assembly plant in Stuttgart was halted for six weeks starting in early April. Production restarted in mid-May.
"That six-week window was very much reserved for fulfilling the U.S. demand," Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer told Automotive News last week. "We had to take thousands of cars out of our sales plan for this year that we will not get into the United States and Canada."
The U.S. was the launch market for the Taycan. The high-powered, high-priced Turbo and Turbo S versions arrived in December, followed by the lower-priced 4S variant in mid-April.
Porsche reported about 350 Taycan sales in the U.S. from December through March. Global demand for the Taycan has outstripped Porsche's expectations, forcing it to reportedly double annual capacity to 40,000.
Porsche views the EV as its ultimate new conquest model — a cleaner, quieter reincarnation of the Porsche 911 that delivers up to 750 hp and can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds.
"The Taycan is the sports car in the battery-electric vehicle segment right now," Zellmer said. "That's what people aspire for."
The EV's importance to the brand was underscored in February when Porsche ran its first Super Bowl ad in more than 20 years to promote the electric model.
"This is a new era for Porsche," Zellmer said. "This is a milestone that is only comparable to us coming from two-door sports cars and selling an SUV in 2002."
Despite the anemic adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S., Zellmer is confident there is a market for luxury performance EVs.
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