Diesel130
New member
Came across this press release this am ...
![[FONT=verdana,geneva"]](/forum/styles/default/pcgb/space.gif ". [FONT=verdana,geneva\"]")
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ORIGINAL: Press Release
FRANKFURT (AFP) "” German luxury car maker Porsche said this morning, Wednesday April 1st 2009, that due to its recently announced first-half profit leapt fourfold owing to its stake in Volkswagen, it was taking steps to rectify trust in its brand and stem the decline in sales of its 911 model range.
Porsche's net profit jumped to 5.5 billion euros (7.3 billion dollars) in the six months from August to January, mainly as a result of a spike in the value of VW shares in October, a company statment said.
Pre-tax profit climbed to 7.34 billion euros from 1.66 billion meanwhile, a result that also stemmed largely from transactions in cash-settled options on VW shares.
Cash-settled options are stock option contracts under which settlement is done via the payment of cash equal to the difference between the market value and the contractual value when the option is exercised or expires.
Porsche has therefore announced it is to use the gains of 6.84 billion euros from the group's first half results to replace all engines in its popular 996 and 997 varients of its 911 range with a newly designed 3.8 litre engine which was being developed for the 998 model, due in 2010.
But the company warned that because the costs involved, short term profits may tumble in the next half-year.
Currently sales of Porsche's have fallen by 26.7 percent to 34,266 vehicles. Porsche believes that much of the reduction in sales and lower residual values are largely due to comments posted on the UK-based 'PCGB' web site.
The iconic 911 sports car was the group's second best-selling model, at 13,543 units, down from 16,261 a year earlier, while customers bought 16,773 Cayenne sports utility vehicles, compared with 20,638 in the previous year.
The company has therefore introduced a scheme to swap out all watercooled 911 engines from its normally aspirated 911 range "to support the loyalty of its customers," it said. It added this swap out applies to all 911 vehicles purchased from 1997, but excludes the GT2, GT3 and Turbo varients as these vehicles were not affected by quality issues.
Customers of all 911 model ranges 996 and 997 are recommended to contact their nearest OPC to book a date for the engine change. Loan vehicles will be available during the 3-days period over which engines are replaced. It is estimated this process will take place over the remainder of 2009, so customers are advised to contact their OPC at their earliest opportunity to book a date.
A company representative thanked the support of its loyal customers and in particular those who post on the 'PCGB' porsche forum.
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