Orders for new Cayenne exceed expectations

Stuttgart:  Porsche's new version of the Cayenne sports-utility vehicle, which will arrive at European showrooms on May 8, attracted orders that beat expectations, according to Chief Executive Officer Michael Macht.

"We're looking at an incredibly high order intake from almost all markets," Macht said late Tuesday at the German manufacturer's factory in Leipzig, where the next generation of Porsche's best-selling model was presented. "Orders are clearly exceeding our expectations." He didn't give figures.

Porsche, based in Stuttgart, plans to add models with a goal of doubling yearly sales to as many as 150,000 vehicles over the medium term, and benefit from savings from a merger with Volkswagen, Macht said. Deliveries in the six months ended January 31 fell no more than 1.7 per cent to 33,670, compared with a decline of 40 percent in the first quarter.

"Everything is suggesting that this negative trend seems to have ended," the CEO said at the Leipzig plant, where about 640 workers assemble Panamera and Cayenne vehicles. Improving deliveries and the 3.7 per cent increase in first-half revenue "are encouraging news that indicate that the end of the long drought is indeed in sight."

Volkswagen agreed to merge with Porsche in August after the 911 sports-car maker's debt tripled to more than 10 billion euros ($13.6 billion) following a failed bid to buy Volkswagen by securing stock through options transactions. Macht Tuesday disputed an April 8 report by London-based Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Max Warburton saying tax and legal issues could derail the planned fusion.

"The essential legal and financial preconditions for the planned merger of both companies have meanwhile been achieved," Macht said. "We're on a good path to be able to forge a competitive, integrated carmaker in the course of next year."

Porsche unveiled the third generation of the Cayenne, including the manufacturer's first hybrid model, at the Geneva auto show in March. The upgraded SUV offers the performance of a V8 engine, though its fuel efficiency matches that of a gasoline-powered V6.

Sale price for the new Cayenne starts at 55,431 euros ($75,700) in Germany. Deliveries of the current generation tumbled 25 per cent to 34,300 in Porsche's fiscal year ended July 31, 2009.

Porsche reduced fuel consumption of the new Cayenne, with three of the SUV's five versions using less than 10 litres of gasoline per 100 kilometres, Macht said. The Cayenne S hybrid model emits 193 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the lowest level of any of Porsche's four model lines, he said.