| ajindfw | May 16, 2010 10:59 PM | The 911 is a niche product that nobody ever asked for. You should read some of the history books on the cars and the family behind them. One in particular was I believe titled "Augen Blicht" or something like that, and it was available in English.
As a niche product originally developed with attention to detail and frugality, the Porsche products have always been among the best performing, most durable products in their class. The Porsche 911 was truly the first sports car that you could drive at the track on Sunday and then drive to work on Monday.
With an improving reputation, countless successful racing ventures and numerous innovations, Porsche earned the ability to charge a premium for what would seem to some to be necessary or frivolous features, or sometimes even charging "more for less" with RS models. However, we don't all want the same things. One of my favorite cars to drive was my first Boxster- lightly optioned, it was light in weight and very nimble. My 911 Turbo and Turbo S were comparative monsters performance-wise. For some folks, the AWD variants meet their wants and needs (AWD Porsches are absolutely awesome in inclement weather) whereas others prefer a lighter weight, lightly optioned base 911. If you live in Miami, Dallas or Los Angeles, a 911 Cab is a great way to take in the sights.
Look at it this way; Toyota offers several different versions of the Camry, and they even offer(ed) a supercharged performance version in Australia. Here in the US you can buy a base Ford Mustang for about $14,000, but a fully loaded SVT Cobra will run you over $50,000- do you really think it has nearly four times the value of the base model.
Bottom line- WDAWTST (we don't all want the same thing), and Porsche is simply doing what every other company does. |