Porsche designs may be shaped by Chinese
General Motors sells more Buicks in China than in the United States. So for some models, Buick stylists pay more attention to the desires of Chinese consumers than to the needs of U.S. buyers.
Could the same thing happen at Porsche? Sales numbers indicate the German sports car maker soon might want to cater to Chinese buyers as much as they do to American enthusiasts.
Porsche expects sales in China will rival those in its largest market, the United States, in two or three years. To increase sales, Porsche is expanding its dealership network in China, where it had 31 stores last year. In January, the company said it would open 10 dealerships a year in China.
Porsche says its sales in China soared to 2,484 units in July -- up fivefold over the year-ago period -- on strong demand for the Cayenne SUV. That was slightly below the 2,768 Porsches sold in the United States in July.
For the first seven months of the year, Porsche sold 14,751 vehicles in China, up nearly 73 percent over the year-earlier period. Its U.S. sales through July came to 18,310, up 34 percent.
