The German sports car manufacturer Porsche has reportedly got off to a “flying start” in Belgium this year, with order books completely full of orders for new cars, La Libre Belgique reports.
While most of the country deals with high inflation and the cost of living crisis, an increase in luxury car orders shines a light on rampant inequality in Belgium.
As of the end of October, new Porsche vehicle registrations in Belgium increased 14.9% compared to last year, or nearly 2,900 vehicles. Porsche now occupies 1% of the market share, up from 0.79% in 2021.
Despite a slight stabilisation in sales from July and August, Didier t’Serstevens, Porsche Import Director for the D’Ieteren group, says that Porsche is actively growing its place in the premium segment of the market. “We are staying on course in this microsegment.”
While t’Serstevens cannot give exact numbers, he said that the order book for new Porsches was now completely full. “It’s unheard of. This is by far a record in recent years,” he said. t’Serstevens said that the good order book can be explained by both a large number of orders and late deliveries.
“Customer contracts are goods, but we can’t turn a blind an eye to this. There have been production problems and there are therefore a lot of vehicles awaiting delivery,” he said.
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As with much of the luxury car market, there is a growing trend towards electric and hybrid engine vehicles. For Porsche in Belgium, orders for the electric Taycan now represent 30-35% of all orders.
“If we add hybrid vehicles, I am referring to the Panamera and the Cayenne, we arrive at a proportion of nearly one in two vehicles with electric motorisation,” the import manager said.
Despite this, Porsche still has plenty of orders for its traditional two-door sports cars, which occupy around 25-30% of their sales. Popular models include the 911, which they call their “ambassador” model.
The Porsche importer remains hopeful for next year. As subsidies on fossil fuel engines come to end next July, t’Serstevens expects that there will be a surge in interest in their vehicles in June.
