PORSCHE Cars Australia (PCA) plans to focus heavily on organic growth and brand preservation going forward after a rapid burst of sales in the past three years stemming from its SUV models, particularly the mid-size Macan.

Introduced in May 2014, Macan has contributed more than 4600 incremental sales and pushed the sportscar brand to new heights overall – 2812 units in 2014 (up 47.6 per cent on the previous year), 4090 in 2015 (+45.4 per cent) and to 3817 units to the end of September this year, which is a more moderate pace of 14.1 per cent growth but will easily produce another annual record result at around the 5000-sales mark.

Macan has overtaken Porsche’s other SUV, the larger Cayenne, to become the top-selling model but, if anything, Cayenne sales have benefited from the addition of the smaller model. Last year, its sales were up 12.3 per cent and this year are running 8.9 per cent ahead of 2015.

PCA managing director and CEO Sam Curtis told GoAuto this week that in the first 18 months of the Macan being on sale, 70 per cent of buyers were first-time Porsche buyers, and that the long-anticipated arrival of the four-cylinder version was “imminent”.

However, he said the Australian subsidiary was heavily focused on maintaining Porsche’s reputation as a niche high-performance sportscar manufacturer.

“We are never going to be a volume brand – that’s not the intent,” he said. “If you talk about our growth in Australia, it has been unprecedented even when you compare it to Porsche globally.

“So Porsche has had significant growth, upwards of 120 per cent, but Porsche Cars Australia has grown in excess of 200 per cent in the last four years … I think there was an opportunity to seize (by introducing the Macan) and we capitalised on it.

“But we’ve got to be, I suppose, somewhat guarded that we’re not chasing size of success at the expense of the brand.”

With no other volume-selling models such as a small SUV on the horizon, Mr Curtis said he was happy for the brand to grow “organically” with tightly controlled vehicle supplies and a focus on new variants of current model lines – and the lifestyle and brand image for which Porsche is renowned.

“It’s important that we’re still niche, we’re a sportscar manufacturer first and foremost, and we do work on that business philosophy that we want to try and bring in to the country one car less than there is demand for,” he said.

“And that’s what keeps it tight and desirable, and we’ve just got to be very careful not to order in excess of what the demand is.

“It won’t stop Australia looking (for new opportunities) but for us it’s got to be intelligent growth and organic growth, and it will be based more on lifestyle and potentially new product variants.”

Outside of SUVs, Porsche sales have been solid across all model lines except the soon-to-be-replaced Panamera four-door coupe, albeit with smaller volumes.

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The brand-defining 911 sportscar has experienced average sales growth of 17.5 per cent from 2012-2015. After posting 72 new registrations in September – its best monthly sales figure since January 2007 – the 911 is currently up 12.9 per cent YTD and has already matched its full-year result last year of 377 units.

Boxster sales have been trending downward since 2014 but has still managed to average 13.1 per cent per cent growth over the 2012-15 period. This year sales are down 5.8 per cent, but deliveries of the significantly updated model launched in June should have a positive impact.

Cayman sales have been on a rollercoaster ride in recent years, skyrocketing with the second generation launched in 2013, and naturally tapering off slightly thereafter – although this year it has bounced back with a 57.6 per cent increase YTD. Over the 2012-2015 period, its average sales growth is still a phenomenal 110 per cent.

Mr Curtis pointed to the fact that if you took out Macan sales this year – based on a conservative estimate of 4300 for the full year, and 2000 of these going the way of the mid-size SUV – the remaining 2300 would still represent a significant increase on the 1373 units the brand achieved in 2012.

“So our brand and our business hasn’t just grown on the back of SUVs and the Macan in particular,” he said. “We will have, this year, another record sales year for both 911 and Boxster/Cayman since the GFC.”

The only model to drag back Porsche’s sales performance over the past few years has been the Panamera, which has managed only one positive result since 2012 and last year slumped 34.1 per cent to just 56 units. This year, sales are down a further 8.7 per cent, with Porsche eagerly anticipating the new-generation model due in February.

Mr Curtis hopes the new model will represent around two per cent of PCA’s total sales volume.

“Panamera next year, while we don’t have a set, finite target, we see that if we then sit at two per cent, that should see the Australian market at around 100 vehicles,” he said. “If we do 100, and we think that we can, it would represent probably 10 per cent of that segment it competes in.”

As for the four-cylinder Macan, Mr Curtis said: “We haven’t made a final decision as to when (it arrives) – I think it’s imminent.

“But again, the question you have to ask is will we bring it in just because we want to grow our sales? Or do we need to bring it in because it makes sense to improve part of our product portfolio? The latter has to apply.

“And we need to feel that’s the right decision, and when it’s the right time we’ll consider it.

“We’re not being forced by head office to take something because it exists in a range.”

PCA’s dealer network has benefited from the sales increase after investing heavily in the brand leading up to the release of Macan.

Over a two-year period, dealers invested in excess of $50 million across the dealer network in facility upgrades – a short-term financial sacrifice that Mr Curtis compared to growing pains.

The national network now sits at 14 dealerships – up from 12 two years ago, but in line with the mantra of ‘less is more’, Mr Curtis said he was not looking at rapidly expanding the dealer network, but instead sharing the boom in business with the existing dealers.

“This is now just organic growth, and I personally believe in the model that less is more,” he said.

“We have 14 very committed, very enthusiastic dealers across Australia, and the question is, at what point do you grow the network to accommodate the future growth of Porsche?

“I would rather share with the existing dealers what we have, and grow collectively as a group rather than putting up a dealer for the sake of putting up a dealer.

“And all you’re then doing is simply sharing the pie in a different way.”

By Robbie Wallis