If the F-Type was aimed at the 30-40 age group it missed. It's just too expensive, way too expensive in fact. The 911 doesn't really hit the 30-40 age bracket for the same reason.
Don't get me wrong - nobody would be happier if the F-Type sells bucket loads than me, it would be great for the UK and especially great for the Midlands where I live and work. Maybe it will sell loads in emerging markets like Russia and China where previous brand perception counts for little.
But...I don't think they've fixed their image issue. It's still perceived as a 50's and older model range. We have over 800 corporate staff in our business and probably 400 of them are entitled to a company car. Only the higher earning managers (say 50-60) get to pick an XF from the car lists and the few that have (5 or less) are typically all late 40's early 50's blokes.
If they want to make themselves more appealing they need to do start selling some cars in a price-bracket that their new, younger audience can afford and this is where I think they've missed an opportunity with the F-Type. The simple truth is, the Boxster S does just about everything the F-Type does for a lot less bucks and it also handles sweeter. It's also a Porsche with all the sports car brand power they have. You'd have to be spending £80-£90k on the V8 to see a performance gap between the F-Type and Boxster S. I agree with Lee on the auto thing as well - it's for old blokes! Or the sort of bloke who uses a power-trolley on the golf course!
As for the SUV, I can see why they've produced that - to compete with Q7 and X5. It looks massive on the video that Breaker posted on the other thread, but it's a box that needed ticking as the Russians and Chinese buy an awful lot of these.
Let's wait and see what their 3-series rival looks like when that breaks cover because that will be a key model for them.
Don't get me wrong - nobody would be happier if the F-Type sells bucket loads than me, it would be great for the UK and especially great for the Midlands where I live and work. Maybe it will sell loads in emerging markets like Russia and China where previous brand perception counts for little.
But...I don't think they've fixed their image issue. It's still perceived as a 50's and older model range. We have over 800 corporate staff in our business and probably 400 of them are entitled to a company car. Only the higher earning managers (say 50-60) get to pick an XF from the car lists and the few that have (5 or less) are typically all late 40's early 50's blokes.
If they want to make themselves more appealing they need to do start selling some cars in a price-bracket that their new, younger audience can afford and this is where I think they've missed an opportunity with the F-Type. The simple truth is, the Boxster S does just about everything the F-Type does for a lot less bucks and it also handles sweeter. It's also a Porsche with all the sports car brand power they have. You'd have to be spending £80-£90k on the V8 to see a performance gap between the F-Type and Boxster S. I agree with Lee on the auto thing as well - it's for old blokes! Or the sort of bloke who uses a power-trolley on the golf course!
As for the SUV, I can see why they've produced that - to compete with Q7 and X5. It looks massive on the video that Breaker posted on the other thread, but it's a box that needed ticking as the Russians and Chinese buy an awful lot of these.
Let's wait and see what their 3-series rival looks like when that breaks cover because that will be a key model for them.