Porsche is speeding toward a new era of exclusivity.
The German sports car maker thinks more bespoke models and one-offs may be one of the quickest ways to improve its fortunes, according to Automotive News. The process is already underway, too, with the company’s Sonderwunsch division already hard at work on 15 custom creations.
The move is part of CEO Micheal Leiters’s broader attempt to turn Porsche’s fortunes around after it saw its profit margin collapse in the first half of the decade. The automaker has decided that one of the most effective ways to do so is to reduce the number of vehicles it builds while increasing the amount of money it makes on each of them. That doesn’t just mean fewer entry-level 911s and more GT3 and Turbo S variants, though. It means introducing an even more exclusive class of offering, including, potentially, more few-off special editions.
Integral to the approach will be the company’s Sonderwunsch, or special requests, division. Started back in 1978, the department handles off-the-menu orders from the company’s most valued customers, allowing them to customize their favorite Porsche with any paint color or interior option they can think of. Some of these builds, like the 911 Carrera T Formosa and the 911 Turbo S Land Down Under (seen up top), are among the most breathtaking vehicles we’ve seen from the marque this year.
But Sonderwunsch can go even further than that. If a client is willing to spend the money, the marque can build a truly unique vehicle with components you won’t find on any of its series production models. Alexander Fabig, Porsche’s vice president of individualization and classic, told the newspaper that the division is currently working on 15 of these vehicles, with prices ranging between $2 million and $15 million—each.
The automaker, like its former corporate relative, Bugatti, has also begun restoring some of its heritage vehicles. Late last year, the company unveiled a stunning 2005 Carrera GT that it had returned to factory condition and given a new livery-style paint job. These commissions can cost anywhere from $500,000 and $800,000 each Fabig told Automotive News. The marque has already completed 11 recommissions, is working on an additional 16, and has a 21-car wait list, suggesting there’s clearly an interest in the program from the company’s dedicated customer base.
