Porsche has been building cars longer than most people reading this have been alive. For seven decades they’ve been tearing up their own script and occasionally re-writing it wholesale. People complained when 356 production ended in favor of the heavier and more expensive 911. People complained when the 964 debuted because it had coil springs of all things. Similar levels of upset were thrown around when the 996 debuted with water cooling. Enter the 991.2, the current 911 on showroom floors today, coming to the market with turbocharged engines in every trim. There are always “purists” resistant to change and unable to accept that the way they like their Porsches isn’t the way Porsche will build them forever. Here’s Alex Goy of Carfection saying the thing that nobody really wants to say, Porsche doesn’t owe you anything.
Enthusiasts are great for a brand, just look at this site as an example, and Porsche has really built their past on sports car fans, motorsport fans, and serial 911 buyers. There are many people who have bought 911s for decades, and will likely continue to do so. The 911 has become larger, more comfortable and significantly faster as it’s aged, and they like it that way. For every hundred of those kinds of folks, there is one that says they’ll never buy another 911 because it’s water-cooled or because it’s turbocharged. Porsche isn’t building 991s for that buyer. They’ve been continually making the 911 (and the rest of their lineup) more conducive to every day driving, more appealing to the average luxury car buyer.
Porsche is up front about the fact that they don’t owe you anything. They’ve stuck to their guns and continue to build some of the best sports cars in the game. They’ll defend PDK to the death, even though enthusiasts shout and wail about it. They’ll happily make hundreds of thousands of Macan compact SUVs to the ire of people who remember when Porsche only built 911s and 912s. I personally hate the nomenclature they’re using to bill luxury cars as inspired by hardcore models from the 1960s. The fact is, they’re growing larger than they’ve ever been, and selling more cars to more new customers than ever before in company history. They have nothing to apologize for. It’s that simple.