Porsche makes money off holes

Romanian entrepreneur, with strong personality, mindful of his image and, last but not least, rich. “There are quite many Romanians matching this description. And they all bought a Porsche Cayenne last year,” Hans Riedl, executive marketing and sales director and member of the Board of Directors of the world’s most profitable carmaker last year, Porsche AG, says and he means it. He added 64 Romanians that bought a Porsche last year allowed the German carmaker to attain a sales volume far beyond even its most optimistic estimates. “We entered the Romanian market through the local importer Porsche Romania in 1998. We had never dreamt that in five years’ time we would sell no less than 64 cars in a single year. Particularly because our annual sales in Romania so far have stood at 10-15 units,” Riedl said. Last year’s surge in sales can be explained by the launch of Cayenne, a SUV that hit record sales all over the world. Its sales in Romania were much helped by the fact that it handles itself very well considering the poor quality of the roads here. ZF