Porsche cutting output of Carrera GT

[BMWDave]

Porsche cutting output of Carrera GT, won't bring final 200-plus cars alotted to U.S. market
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Posted Date: 8/10/05
Porsche won't bring in the final 200-plus Carrera GT supercars planned for the United States - and, surprisingly, dealers couldn't be happier.

"I'm thrilled," says Jerry Nelson, owner of Schneider + Nelson Porsche in West Long Branch, N.J. "From the beginning I thought there were too many being built."

Porsche says the $440,000 car won't meet 2006-model requirements for smart airbags, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wouldn't grant a waiver.

"It's a business decision," a Porsche spokesman says. "The cost of engineering the two-stage airbags and recrashing the cars just to make them model-year 2006 cars just doesn't make sense."

Porsche is cutting total output of Carrera GTs to 1,250 units, from 1,500. Most of the 250 dropped units would have gone to the United States, the spokesman says. Since the Carrera GT went into production in January 2004, 396 have been sold in the United States through July.

Dealers say keeping the numbers down will help keep values high.

Nelson says Porsche initially told dealers it would build only 1,000 and charge $399,000. "We let that word get out to our customers, but then the number went up to 1,500 and $440,000," he says.

Many prospects view the car "as an investment," Nelson says, and asked why Porsche was building so many Carrera GTs, when Ferrari usually only makes 400 or so when it has a limited-edition car.

[Raza]

Eh.  I wasn't going to buy one anyway.  Too long.

[R33 GT-R]

Too bad, idiots buying them seem to not know how to drive them anyway.  

[giant_mtb]

Darn.

[BMWDave]

Too bad, idiots buying them seem to not know how to drive them anyway.

Yup. I have heard a lot of that.  These guys just cant handle the clutch and the power, they stall every time they are on a hill or they try to do a fast start.  Most of them just cant handle it.  

[Raghavan]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

[Colonel Cadillac]

I know someone who was going to buy one, but the waiting list was just too long he said. After that he marched over to the Ferrari dealer and ordered a 360 Spyder.

He lives a nice life

[BMWDave]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

[Raza]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

The Ferrari was also only available for purchase by a select few repeat Ferrari owners.  I heard you had to own an F40 or F50.  So even if you or I had the money and wanted to buy one (I wouldn't) we couldn't.

[Raghavan]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

But the flagship model must be more rare...

[BMWDave]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

But the flagship model must be more rare...

If 1500 units isnt rare to you, then what is?  A MC12 has a production run of 50 units.  Does that make an Enzo mainstream?

[Raza]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

But the flagship model must be more rare...

If 1500 units isnt rare to you, then what is?  A MC12 has a production run of 50 units.  Does that make an Enzo mainstream?

Yes, it does.   :D  

[Raghavan]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

But the flagship model must be more rare...

If 1500 units isnt rare to you, then what is?  A MC12 has a production run of 50 units.  Does that make an Enzo mainstream?

maybe 750...

[BMWDave]

Good thing, too many were built anyway.

Are you kidding?  A Mercedes SLR Mclaren has a production run of about 3000 units, a Ford GT has a production run of about 6000 units, and the Porsche Carrera GT has a run of 1500 units.  Very, very exclusive if you ask me.  

The only one more exclusive is an Enzo, with only 399 built.  If I had the money, I wouldnt be able to buy an Enzo from a dealership, and I'd have to pay over 1 million used to get one.  Ferrari wanted that type of exclusivity.  But I can order a Porsche Carrera GT and still be the most exclusive guy on the block.

But the flagship model must be more rare...

If 1500 units isnt rare to you, then what is?  A MC12 has a production run of 50 units.  Does that make an Enzo mainstream?

maybe 750...

Porsche wouldnt have been able to make the CGT in the first place if they only built 750 units.

[R33 GT-R]

airbag problem

[Raza]

They should have built three, put one in the museum, and sold the other two to Bill Gates for $350,000,000 a piece, right Rag?

[Raghavan]

They should have built three, put one in the museum, and sold the other two to Bill Gates for $350,000,000 a piece, right Rag?

Yup.  

[Raghavan]

test