Compared with other sports car brands, Porsche's products can be described as the most diverse, and the price range is more extensive, which is enough to meet the diverse needs of different customers. As a Porsche family, the Macan, which laid the foundation of Porsche's "spontaneous dare", was officially launched recently, and the car series launched three models of Macan Basic Edition, Macan S and Macan GTS, priced at 554,000-84.8 million yuan, and the appearance, interior and power layout have been upgraded.
It can be said that since its birth, Macan has broken the traditional functional-oriented market pattern and integrated the soul of "born on the track and on the road" for a medium-sized SUV that emphasizes functionality. This also makes the Macan the best-selling model at Porsche, with the richest group of owners. The product sincerity created by the renewed Macan has released a stronger appeal to consumers of all ages.
However, with the rapid development of new energy vehicles, manufacturers are also constantly transforming, and electrification is also the direction of the future development of super luxury brands and sports cars.
Previously, Porsche executives said more than once that around 2023, the Macan pure electric model based on the PPE platform is coming soon to enrich the pure electric products of Porsche and sell them together with fuel models, so the new Macan may become the last generation of fuel models.
In this regard, at Macan's Zhuhai test drive meeting, I had the honor to interview Mr. Bai Wenzhan, Vice President of Product Management at Porsche China, to reinterpret the significance of Macan, electrification and carbon neutrality for Porsche from an official perspective.
Q1: The new Macan canceled the 3.0T model, and the corresponding name and price have changed, in fact, there are many discounts than before, for what reason did this adjustment be made?
Mr. Bai Wenzhan: The idea of the new Macan is to upgrade the previously popular and advantageous aspects to a greater extent and do the best. For example, we can see that the new Macan basic version of the new engine this time has a very big upgrade than before, from the basic level is very attractive to consumers. Look at the new Macan GTS is the most sporty and strongest model in the entire car series. The new Macan S is a more balanced product in terms of sportiness, comfort and functionality.
And in terms of price, as just said, we are more competitive. It is also based on this consideration that we hope to retain the advantages that consumers liked in the past on the new Macan, but also give them more price or configuration improvements.
Q2: Pure electric Macan is the first Porsche existing model to turn to electrification products, choose the model with the largest sales volume to make this attempt, what are the expectations for sales? Will Macan's overall product strength change with the advent of pure electric models?
Mr. Bai Wenzhan: Our Macan is really successful now, mainly because of the model positioning and the characteristics of the Chinese market, especially for urbanization, which has a great attraction, and when the transition to pure electric, its original advantages will be retained.
Of course, when the pure electric version of macan is launched, we also want to ensure that consumers have a flexible choice, and will continue to retain the internal combustion engine version of the Macan, so that the two models complement each other and meet different consumers. In addition, for the current ownership of Macan, the introduction of a pure electric version of Macan will be a very good boost.
Q3: What are the differences between Chinese and European customers in their choice of Macan models, taking macan as an example, which one is more choice between the basic, S or GTS?
Mr. Bai Wenzhan: In fact, in the Chinese market, everyone chooses more basic models, and the US market also has more basic basic models. Europe, on the other hand, has a higher proportion of S and GTS models. It is also understandable that because the GTS, as the most powerful model in the Macan series, was chosen for the most extreme performance, but this is a minority after all. I personally think the best is the Macan S model, which is the most balanced.
Q4: High customization is also a feature of Porsche, is there a different direction for Chinese customers in terms of customization from the global market, The European and American markets?
Mr. Bai Wenzhan: First of all, Chinese consumers, whether young or gender, have a big difference from the owners of the European and American markets, and even Chinese car owners are more than 20 years younger than the main European and American cars, and the gender ratio is almost 50:50, and then from the customer's pursuit of fashion, technology and other aspects, Chinese car owners are more receptive to new things and release their own personality, so they have more bold ideas for color matching, materials, sports equipment and so on.
From the perspective of the proportion of optional equipment, last year' Investment in personalized configuration of Chinese customers was second only to Germany, which is a very large proportion. To this end, we are also constantly pushing the range of personalized options, such as the new Macan, which offers 200 options to make any idea come true. For example, the suture and configuration of the center position can be customized.
In addition, there is a more interesting example of the Taycan iceberry powder and ice crystal blue body color problem. At that time, in 2019, Taycan was promoted in Barcelona with these two colors, and colleagues in Europe saw that the reaction of these two colors was "this is impossible in Europe", while in the Chinese market these two colors are very popular, it can be said that Chinese consumers are really like the new Macan's communication words: "willful dare to do".