5.16 What role does the Porsche brand play in the self-concept of its buyers?

Porsche (pronounced Porsh-uh) is a unique company. It has always been a niche brand that makes cars for a small and distinctive segment of automobile buyers. Last year, Porsche sold around 155,000 vehicles globally and around 50,000 units with Europe. In contrast, Honda is aiming to sell 6 million units per year by 2017. In this sense, Porsche owners are as rare as their vehicles. For that reason, top managers at Porsche spend a great deal of time thinking about customers. They want to know who their customers are, what they think and how they feel. They want to know why they buy a Porsche rather than a Jaguar, or a Ferrari, or a big Mercedes coupe. These are challenging questions – even Porsche owners themselves don’t know exactly what motivates their buying. But given Porsche’s low volume and the increasingly fragmented auto market, it is imperative that management understand its customers and what gets their motors running.