One day, I found myself wondering: \u201cThe Panamera is such a great car\u2014so why do so many people buy the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a car in the same class?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Recently, Porsche Japan President Toshifumi Shimizu appeared on a TV program hosted by motoring journalist Goro Okazaki and said, \u201cSales of the new Panamera are strong.\u201d<\/strong> Perhaps the Panamera has become more popular with the 971 generation than it was with the 970. Even so, I see far more S-Classes out on the road. My impression was that \u201cfor every Panamera, there must be about 15 S-Classes…\u201d<\/strong> But when I looked into it, I came across these figures for Mercedes-Benz and Porsche\u2019s vehicle sales<\/strong>:<\/p>\n In 2016, Mercedes-Benz<\/strong> set a new annual sales record for the sixth year in a row, selling 2,228,367 new vehicles worldwide.<\/strong> Meanwhile, Porsche<\/strong> sold 237,778 vehicles<\/strong> in 2016, its best result ever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wait\u2014what?! That\u2019s a difference of an entire digit! (\uff1b\uff9f\u0414\uff9f)<\/p>\n That explains why you don\u2019t see many Porsches on the road\u2014not just Panameras. I haven\u2019t looked up the sales figures for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Porsche Panamera specifically, but the simple takeaway is that \u201cthere are roughly ten times as many Mercedes-Benz vehicles on the road as Porsches.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Now that we\u2019ve seen the difference in overall sales, I started wondering why so many people buy an S-Class instead of a Panamera. I\u2019m no motoring journalist or professional reviewer, of course\u2014this is just the perspective of a Porsche fan who doesn\u2019t know all that much about how cars are built (I know, I know)<\/span>.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard people say in all sorts of places that \u201cMercedes-Benz used to be seen as the car successful people drove\u2014and everyone aspired to own one.\u201d<\/strong> And considering that Mercedes-Benz once focused mainly on sedans, before compact models like the A-Class and B-Class came along, it\u2019s easy to see why the S-Class still stands as a clear symbol of status and success.<\/p>\n The Panamera, by contrast, is a relatively new Porsche model, first produced in 2009, and it\u2019s still not widely recognized. Once, when I mentioned the Panamera, someone asked, \u201cWait, did you say Primera?\u201d That made me realize just how unfamiliar the car still is to many people.<\/p>\n This may overlap with brand recognition, but there\u2019s a concept often discussed in advertising: the mere-exposure effect. In simple terms, \u201cthe more often we encounter a product or service, the more positively we tend to feel about it.\u201d<\/strong> So perhaps people are more drawn to the S-Class, which they see around town all the time, than to the Panamera\u2014a car they know less about and see less often.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not unusual to see S-Class owners being driven by a chauffeur while they relax in the back seat. With its spacious rear seats and comfort that feels like settling into a sofa, the S-Class is surely an excellent choice not only for personal travel but also for transporting important VIP clients.<\/p>\n The Panamera is often called a luxury sedan and compared with the S-Class, but I see them as very different cars<\/strong>. Porsche is, first and foremost, a sports-car maker.<\/strong> The Panamera was developed as a sports car, with a luxurious ride added to the mix; its core character is still sporty. That\u2019s why each rear seat is a separate, sport-oriented seat, and why, despite its exceptional luxury, the suspension feels firmer than the S-Class.<\/p>\n When you look at it that way, far more people probably prioritize luxury over the combination of luxury and driving enjoyment. That may be why the S-Class ends up being the more popular choice.<\/p>\n Porsches are largely built to order, so they\u2019re well known for long waits between placing an order and taking delivery.<\/strong> When our family ordered a new Panamera, we were told, \u201cSix months at the earliest\u2014probably ten months.\u201d Each dealership has a set allocation, and Porsche\u2019s factories also close for about six weeks in the summer. Even if you want your car sooner, there\u2019s not much you can do but wait. If you \u201cwant a luxury sedan as soon as possible,\u201d<\/strong> the S-Class may be the better option because you could get one sooner.<\/p>\n At other dealerships, it\u2019s common to hear, \u201cIf you decide this month, we can take \u00a5\u25cf\u25cf off the price!\u201d<\/strong> When I visited BMW, for example, I was quoted a discounted price. Porsche, on the other hand, rarely offers discounts. One salesperson explained, \u201cWe can\u2019t use \u2018We\u2019ll give you a discount!\u2019 as a sales tactic, so we can\u2019t sell cars the way other dealers normally do.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, I do find myself thinking, \u201cIf people are buying the S-Class, why don\u2019t more of them consider the Panamera?\u201d<\/strong> But Porsche can continue building such outstanding cars because its production and sales strategy balances supply with demand and maintains high profitability.<\/p>\n Rather than relying on high-volume, low-margin sales, Porsche\u2019s high profitability allows it to invest in technology development and build even better cars. (In 2017, Porsche reportedly made \u00a51.94 million in profit per vehicle, compared with \u00a5560,000 for BMW, \u00a5210,000 for Toyota, and \u00a5360,000 for Subaru. Ferrari, incidentally, made \u00a512 million.)<\/span><\/p>\n So, while I\u2019m not wishing the Panamera would sell as well as the S-Class, I do think more people should know how wonderful it is. That\u2019s what I find myself thinking these days.<\/p>\n I later wrote about my experience owning a Mercedes-Benz AMG S63 Coupe.<\/p>\n \u2192My Experience Owning the Mercedes-Benz AMG S63 4MATIC Coupe (C217)<\/a>5 Reasons Buyers Choose the S-Class Over the Panamera<\/h3>\n
\u2460 Brand Recognition<\/h4>\n
\u2461 How Often People See Them<\/h4>\n
\u2462 A Preference for \u201cLuxury Ride Comfort\u201d<\/h4>\n
\u2463 The Wait for Delivery<\/h4>\n
\u2464 Porsche Doesn\u2019t Discount<\/h4>\n
May Porsche Always Be Porsche<\/h3>\n
\n\u2192Which Do You Prefer? How the AMG S63 4MATIC Coupe (C217) and Panamera Turbo (971) Compare<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Panamera vs. S-Class One day, I found myself wondering: \u201cThe Panamera is such a great car\u2014so why do so many people buy the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a car in the same class?\u201d Recently, Porsche Japan President Toshifumi Shimizu appeared on a TV program hosted by motoring journalist Goro Okazaki and said, \u201cSales of the new Panamera are strong.\u201d Perhaps the Panamera has become more popular with the 971 generation than it was with the 970. Even...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/?p=136","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aboutpanamera","en-US"],"yoast_head":"