Monday, March 31, 2008

Porsche Panamera

It all started with the Porsche Cayenne, the SUV from Porsche. Now, Porsche is working on a 4-door sedan named Panamera. The car enthusiast forums are abuzz with active discussion and opinions on the car. To some, Porsche has the envious position in that it has a strong brand that's long been associated with high performance sports cars. As Porsche tries to extend their brand and launch new vehicles like a high performance SUVs and sedans, can they successfully make the transition while maintaining their leadership in the sports car market?














A quick look at Pricehub's data reveals that the last generation of the air cooled Porsche 911's (1995-1998) tend to fetch higher prices than the first generation of the water cooled 911's (1999-2002), even though the water cooled 911's are newer, has better technology, and is more likely to have lower mileage. Could this pricing trend be an indicator of the marketplace making a statement regarding Porsche's latest desirability and their recent vehicle developments?

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

Best and Worst Cars of 2008




Consumer Reports just published their best & worst list for 2008 cars. 4 of the 5 top cars are Japanese. The bottom 5 cars are all American.

The top 5 Consumer Reports tested cars for 2008:

1) Lexus LX460L
2) Infiniti M35 X
3) Infiniti M35 (RWD)
4) Porsche 911 Carrera S
5) Toyota Sienna XLE

The bottom 5 Consumer Reports tested cars for 2008:

1) Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara
2) Hummer H3
3) Jeep Liberty Sport
4) Chevrolet AVEO LS (manual)
5) Chevrolet AVEO LS (automatic)

Using the Consumer Reports ratings along with PriceHub data, I took a very quick and unscientific look at how the best rated and worst rated cars held their value over time. The thing that jumped out at me was how quickly both Jeep vehicles drop in value. Both the Wrangler and the Liberty PriceHub price graphs show a very sharp decline in prices as the car gets older. On the other hand, the 911 and the Sienna PriceHub price graphs are relatively flatter and don't exhibit the steep declines seen by the Jeeps.

Consumer Reports must be onto something.

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