This offer was just too tempting for bargain hunters. A new vehicle, which is said to cost only about ten percent of the list price, was advertised on a dealer platform in China – and a number of people took advantage of it.
As the “Bloomberg” portal reports, Porsche AG offered its latest Panamera model in China for 124,000 yuan (approx. 17,000 euros). This would only be about an eighth – about 13 percent – of the actual planned starting price of 998,000 yuan (135,000 euros). The false information was published on January 30 of this year.
After hundreds of prospective buyers paid the reservation fee of 911 yuan (124 euros), Porsche pulled the ripcord and announced that they had communicated “a serious error in the stated sales price”.
Porsche, speaking to Bloomberg, reports that it was in contact with the first person to make an online reservation and reached an amicable agreement on one of the vehicles, which was actually available locally. All reservation payments made would now be refunded.
Porsche started selling cars in mainland China more than 20 years ago. With total sales of 6.2 billion US dollars (approx. 5.7 billion euros) in the first six months of last year, the country is now Porsche’s largest single market worldwide.
Despite the chip crisis and supply chain problems, Porsche was able to sell slightly more cars in 2022 than in the previous year. Deliveries rose by three percent to 309,884, as the Stuttgart carmaker announced.
Sources: Bloomberg (Paid Content), BBC
