On March 12, Porsche China released its annual performance review of the previous year via online live streaming for the first time ever. In 2019, Porsche China delivered 86,752 new vehicles to customers, increasing 8% compared with 2018, and accounting for a total of 31% of Porsche AG worldwide sales. As a result, China remains the largest single market of Porsche AG for the fifth consecutive year. In addition to the record new vehicle deliveries, Porsche China also attained significant growth in other sectors: Porsche signed 33,519 financial service contracts in China’s mainland, up 23% year on year, with a market penetration rate of 40% – 5 percentage points higher than that of 2018; 3,446 units of Porsche Approved pre-owned cars were traded, rising 20% year on year; the optional parts business grew continuously with the increasing personalisation needs of consumers, and the optional load of every Porsche car grew 17% on average compared with those in 2018. 

“2019 marked a crucial transitional year for  Porsche China. We are gratified and proud for the great performance and milestone accomplishments of the past year,” said Dr. -Ing. Jens Puttfarcken, President and CEO of Porsche China. “The outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of this year poses severe challenges to China and the world at large, and it also drives us to take innovative methods to communicate with consumers and the public. It is one of the reasons behind our decision to release the corporate performance via online live streaming. Confronting the epidemic, we are devoted to reassuring our consumers, enhancing the confidence of our dealer partners and protecting our employees. Emerging from this test, I believe that the Chinese economy and Porsche China will be more tenacious, and continue to realise our goal of steady, high-quality development.”

Endeavouring to deliver products beyond expectations

The steady growth of Porsche China in 2019 was mainly driven by the evolving and innovative product lineup. At the end of 2019, the eighth generation 911 was delivered to customers through Porsche’s dealer stores. The legendary sports car model 911 is at the core of Porsche, and it boasts the largest proportion of customisation options among Porsche’s entire product range. Featuring the pure sports DNA of Porsche, the 718 is much favoured by young consumers, and its owners – with an average age of 32 – are the youngest owner group among Porsche’s product portfolio. 2019 marked the tenth anniversary of the Panamera series, and China remained the largest market for this model line in the world with a market share of 40%. The new Cayenne Coupé went sale in China last summer to support the stable growth of the Cayenne family, and it continued to be one of Porsche’s best-sellers in China. Additionally, the fashion pioneer Macan saw strong sales growth of 26% in 2019, and turned out to be the most popular Porsche model in China.

The world premiere of the Taycan in 2019 ushered in the purely electric future of Porsche sports cars, and three Taycan variants have already been launched for pre-sale in China. Moreover, the sales proportion of seven PHEV models – further exemplifying Porsche’s dedication to e-performance – rose to approximately 10%.

Building excellent services and experiences with a forward-looking approach

In 2019, the diversified sales network of Porsche China continued to meet the changing needs of customers. As of March 2020, there are 123 Porsche sales outlets in China, with 9 of them newly added in 2019. Apart from Porsche Centres, Porsche Studios, Porsche Pop-up Stores and Porsche City Service Centres, Porsche China’s first pilot Destination Porsche store – in Hangzhou Binjiang – was upgraded and will be opened soon. Such an entirely new, community-based experience retail concept will play an important role in the future sales network.

Porsche continued to carry out authentic brand experiences to strengthen the emotional tie with consumers and sports car fans, including Porsche driving experience, travel experience, track experience and Snow Force. The first Porsche Experience Centre in Asia makes the sports car dreams of consumers accessible, and the Shanghai-based Centre enticed over 8,000 consumers to participate in driving experience activities in 2019. Furthermore, Porsche fan community has been expanding. Porsche Club China, founded in April 2017, has become the fourth largest Porsche owners’ club worldwide, with six regional clubs having been established in the Chinese mainland.

Additionally, Porsche’s passionate racing events continued to cultivate the sports car culture of Porsche. In 2019, Porsche introduced the 15 years-old Porsche Sports Cup to China, becoming a carnival for Porsche fans and racers. The Sports Cup China will be further expanded to four regions in 2020. Besides, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) is firmly established as the top one-make motorsport event in the APAC region. With a history of 17 years, its influence has been increasing year by year.

Sincerely and actively carrying out CSR

In 2019, the “Empowering the Future” corporate social responsibilities of Porsche China were refined continuously in the three major CSR sectors. By the end of 2019, the first six dealer projects with the support of the Porsche China Dealer CSR Fund had been fulfilled, benefiting about 15,000 people in Shanghai, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Henan and Sichuan, and afforesting about 33 acres of desert land. The development of Porsche’s young Chinese artist cultivation programmes – Porsche Young Chinese Artist of the Year and Porsche Master Scholarship –  empowered a number of young artists from various colleges and wider society. The cooperation with Tongji University was further expanded last year. Both parties have benefited from the academic cooperation focussing on smart mobility while also supporting the DIAN Racing of Tongji University in the Student Formula racing competition.

Additionally, confronting the coronavirus epidemic at the beginning of 2020, Porsche China continued to actively perform its CSR duties, donated 5 million RMB, and provided humanitarian assistance to frontline health workers, volunteers and their family members; a series of warm-hearted measures were also undertaken in order to care for Porsche employees, dealers and owners.

Opening a new chapter in China with a new image

In May 2019, Porsche China relocated its headquarters and a number of subsidiaries to Lujiazui Financial Plaza. It is the fourth head office of Porsche China since it entered the country 19 years ago. The new office adopts the new design concept S.P.A.C.E, i.e., Smart, Passionate, Attractive, Collaborative, and Engaging. It aims to realize the full potential and creativity of Porsche China’s workforce and to foster exchange, collaboration, agility and innovation. This new office is the first ever property of Porsche worldwide to receive the WELL Building StandardTM gold certification.

Future-oriented employees have been pushing the evolution of Porsche in China. As of the end of 2019, Porsche had 394 employees in China. Thanks to efforts aimed at employer branding and the refinement of human-oriented concepts, Porsche China was recognised as one of the “Top Employers 2020”.

Accelerating the transformation of digitisation, electrification and connectivity into the future

2019 witnessed the acceleration of innovation at Porsche China. It established a digital team in March 2019, and founded the office branches in Shanghai and Beijing successively, in order to work out digital solutions for customers and internal use, and create a new Porsche digital community experience according to the actual situations of China. At the end of 2019, the "Porsche China Service Account" was officially launched on WeChat, dedicated to providing customers with personalised online services. In 2020, Porsche China will also launch an official APP to provide customers with intelligent services and personalised experiences. As important partners of Porsche China, the digital transformation of dealers is also an issue of great importance. The digital team will work with related business departments to further provide digital solutions, helping dealers improve sales processes and enhance the digital experience of customers. In the future, Porsche China will also make breakthroughs in new sales models.

The first purely electric Porsche sports car, the Taycan, will be launched in China in April 2020. Centred on the Taycan, Porsche is making every effort to build the driving experience in the electrification era, and establish a sports car benchmark in the electric vehicle era by combining the outstanding driving fun, reliability and convenient charging facilities with groundbreaking connectivity and smart applications.

“China is transforming from following global trends to setting global trends, especially in terms of digitisation and electrification,” said Dr. -Ing. Jens Puttfarcken. “China is the largest single sales market of Porsche AG at present, and our future goal is to serve as a major innovation engine as well as build a sustainable future for mobility together with Chinese society.”