Sales debate - is inflation making customers think twice about a Porsche purchase?

Sales debate — is inflation making customers think twice about a Porsche purchase?

With the past year seeing consumer price inflation rising to well over 10 per cent, we might wonder if such record numbers affect the used Porsche market. So do they? “No,” says Paragon’s Jason Shepherd. “I don’t really see a link between inflation and values. They’ve levelled off, but there doesn’t seem to be anything to create too much downward pressure.”

Jason continues: “Values have been strong – in fact they’ve moved ahead, but separate to inflation.” In the past two years they’ve leapt up and are showing no signs of going down, he thinks, although there are some exceptions on very late cars. “However, Paragon is slightly removed from the larger market, because of the quality of its stock,” highlights Jason, which should be noted when discussing the wider market and Paragon’s experiences. “People are still funding cars – more than you’d perhaps expect in the current climate,” he tells Total 911.

“The fact that residuals are so strong, especially with specialist financing, opens up more doors as investments than it does concerns about climbing interest rates.” As ever, a 911 is still seen as an investment class.

Jonathan Aucott of Avantgarde Classics echoes this observation. He points out the Porsche market isn’t linked to inflation, but adds that the market isn’t a flat line across all models. “There are nuances across the model and variant ranges, with the higher end of the market pushing the growth,” says Jonathan.

“The fact that Porsche has concentrated on high-spec, new cars has helped keep prices firm in the new/nearly new sector,” Jonathan explains. “In older models – the modern classics – 964 and 993 have seen significant growth, even this year, that has far exceeded 10 per cent,” he says. “But they’re not linked to inflation. That’s more likely linked to supply and demand.” The 964’s popularity is explained by rarity, but the 993 is down to usability. “Yet ultimately it comes down to desirability,” Jonathan says. “Let’s face it – both models are corking cars, aren’t they?” A very true statement, and it explains the draw of both air-cooled gems, and indeed the 911.

“There will always be less-desirable brands that do fall backwards in times like these,” concludes Jonathan, “but Porsche always seems to be one brand that bucks that trend.”