[TusharK]

Mr. Pavan Shetty, Director Porsche India has resigned from his position due to personal reasons.



Pavan Shetty had joined Porsche India in January 2016. Before moving to Porsche, he was the head of Lamborghini India. He has also worked with Ford and Tata Motors in the past.

Porsche will announce its new head in due course of time. In the interim, Mr. Ashish Kaul, Head of Sales, Porsche India will assume the responsibility of day-to-day operations. He will report directly to Mr. Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India.

It must be noted that Jubilant, Porsche's Mumbai dealer, has shut down its showroom and has been operating from Trident Hotel, Nariman Point.

Link to Team-BHP News

[cityvic]

The Kolkata Porsche Dealer shut since Jan 2019 as well. What a mess this brand is in India currently.

[Balthazar]

Mod Note: There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers. Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use a spell-checker.

[GTO]

I don't intend to take a personal jibe at all as I have never met or interacted with Pavan, but seeing the doldrums that Porsche India is in (must-read discussion), it reeks of terrible management & horrible strategic decisions.

Feel bad for what is one of my favourite marques. Their Indian innings started off with thieves (Chordia, then Zenica); Porsche hasn't ever had a stable, respectable run in India.

IMHO, Porsche needs a good, committed, experienced leader. But VW India overall has been in so much turmoil. First, VW backs off investments from India, Audi is in challenges of its own, and Porsche is no less. After spending 20 years in India, Skoda remains a bit player selling 1000 - 1500 cars each month.

You know who would have been an excellent choice to run Porsche India? Arvind Saxena. He is an extremely intelligent, smart, savvy, tough businessman with decades of experience under his belt. He would have overhauled Porsche as needed and given resurgent Jaguar-Land Rover a run for their money. VW had him, but couldn't hold onto him - related thread.

[KMT]

Originally Posted by GTO

I don't intend to take a personal jibe at all as I have never met or interacted with Pavan, but seeing the doldrums that Porsche India is in (must-read discussion), it reeks of terrible management & horrible strategic decisions.

Feel bad for what is one of my favourite marques. Their Indian innings started off with thieves (Chordia, then Zenica); Porsche hasn't ever had a stable, respectable run in India.

[/url].

Can anyone make it work for Porsche in India?

I am putting it very simplistically.

Porsche is above the big 3 Germans in price bracket and below the big two Italians in the Supercar segment.

The average successful businessman/senior Corporate Manager will opt for one of the big three Germans.

The average successful Industrialist/ tycoon will opt for an Italian Supercar.

Porsche has been playing largely between these two segments in Global markets.

There are too many substitutes for their volume sellers (Cayenne, Mecan and Panemera) and there is not much of a 2 seater market in india except for Supercars

So, the question is, does this segment exist in India in sufficient volumes for Porsche to take India seriously?

[avishar]

Originally Posted by KMT

So, the question is, does this segment exist in India in sufficient volumes for Porsche to take India seriously?

Ofcourse it exists. Five years back Porsche was selling close to 500 cars a year in India. Even outside their bread and butter Macan, Cayenne and Panamera range, look at the success of the 718. At one point the 718 constituted 15% of their sales.

Their biggest mistake was to not continue with diesel variants of the new generation Cayenne and other cars from their range.

[docaxe]

I think India is prohibitively expensive for fully built cars. The duty for local assembly is only 15% and for a fully built car is 100%. From import price to exshowroom price the walk is 350% (cess+duties+GST+margins+other cost) for a fully built car and just 170% for a locally assembled car. The 3 Germans are not even close to getting compared with Porsche. The fact that Aston Martin is shutting its Mumbai importer to continue only with one in Delhi, Maserati losing 2 of its dealers to continue with just 1 in Mumbai (having other branches), McLaren not fully represented is only a testimony to the painful fully built auto business in India. What I read about Pavan Shetty is that he build the Lamborghini business from scratch in India. I remember the reputation of Lamborghini in 2010. He single handedly built it and took it to 30 cars at it peak in 2015. Today even after a full bred SUV which is quite practical in India the brand sells only 45-50 cars. So if someone understood the business and it's customers so well for Lamborghini I doubt if the same person would fail in Porsche. Lot of success depends on the intent of headquarters in Germany and the support offered. One person alone cannot move mountains. I think the right successor would be someone who understands the niche customer. Someone from mass brand could treat this business differently and start doing business the way it is done in India. Basically newspaper ads and discounts. Now that's not what Porsche needs I guess!

[ka51resident]

Originally Posted by GTO

IMHO, Porsche needs a good, committed, experienced leader...

I completely agree with you. Perhaps, they could take a few tips from the entire staff of Porsche Bengaluru on how to sell a car or two. I had never been a fan of the Porsche brand, I felt that all their cars look the same and they are an oversized and overpriced cousin of the VW Beetle. But one visit to the showroom and they had me with the way sold the experience of owning and driving a Porsche, I became a big fan. Since then, all I want is a Porsche.

It could only be my experience, but Porsche Mumbai (when they were operational in a proper showroom space) lacked the zeal to sell a car. I was looking for a 911 in a different shade of Red. I had to make three calls in two days as I didn't hear from them.

Originally Posted by KMT

The average successful Industrialist/ tycoon will opt for an Italian Supercar.

It could also have to do with the brand perception. The perfect Supercar for India is the 911 Turbo S spec'd with a Nose Lifter. You can daily it, or you can take it on the track day or you can take it to wherever a C-Class can go.

But not everyone wants a Porsche because it lacks the appeal of the Italian Supercar. The people who know about the brand and its history will go for it. The rest will go with a used Ferrari or a Lamborghini.

[car love]

Originally Posted by docaxe

I think India is prohibitively expensive for fully built cars. The duty for local assembly is only 15% and for a fully built car is 100%. From import price to ex-showroom price the walk is 350% (cess+duties+GST+margins+other cost) for a fully built car and just 170% for a locally assembled car...

+1 to that. It is quite a ridiculous situation in India with the import duties and the various "cesses" et al. Because of this no big manufacturer is too bothered about India. The mindset of every government that comes along is the old, import substitution socialist one which has long died in most parts of the world. These bizarre taxes led to the abandonment of F1 from India. If they couldn't see a market in the 2nd most populous country in the world, one can only imagine the state of affairs. Add to that red tape, babudom etc. which is an altogether different topic.

[Turbanator]

I won't be surprised if Porsche India operations are merged with Audi operations. They can create separate floor space in Audi Dealerships to begin with and even let them service. Most of their diagnostic equipment will be the same and they can reduce overheads for dealerships and their own marketing.

Audi may also see some more footfalls and their CEO - Balbir Singh can manage both together.

[BANDHAV]

I met him once, while I was looking for a Job with Lamborghini Delhi. He interviewed me, usually meeting someone of his stature inspires awe and one cherishes such experience but encounter with him was completely opposite. He was indifferent, made the whole process of interview despite being brief feel like a useless chores. He had the aura of someone who is full of himself.

I know this has no bearing on this, just sharing my personal experience.

[mufeez1234]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I won't be surprised if Porsche India operations are merged with Audi operations. They can create separate floor space in Audi Dealerships to begin with and even let them service. Most of their diagnostic equipment will be the same and they can reduce overheads for dealerships and their own marketing.

Audi may also see some more footfalls and their CEO - Balbir Singh can manage both together.

I second that. It may also bring some enthusiasm back in the falling Audi sales and if a Cayenne customer asks for excessive discounts, he will be directed to the Q7 space!

[KMT]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I won't be surprised if Porsche India operations are merged with Audi operations.

This is an excellent suggestion, it may be a good first step for Porsche to make another attempt at gaining a foothold in India.

Ever since VAG took over Porsche management (2008 or so), Porsche lost some of its unique flavour, so they might as well stop pretending to be different from Audi and embrace them wholeheartedly.

In addition to this going CBU for everything is a hard game in India, they need to take a page out of the JLR playbook re local assembly and celebrity endorsement.