Porsche Asia Pacific just hit record sales in the first six months of 2021, with 87% growth over the previous year. What’s surprising is that 47% of all units shipped are fully electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids.
As we know, Porsche has just released its first electric car, the Porsche Taycan in the Asia Pacific at the end of 2019 and was just introduced in the Indonesian market in February this year. Around 70% of Taycan buyers are new customers to Porsche, which indicates this model has strong appeal in the Asia Pacific market.
“When driven the Taycan feels like a Porsche and has the soul of a Porsche, I believe in the Asian region customers want the latest and greatest, I believe the Taycan is the best car to date,” said Arthur Willmann, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche Asia Pacific.
Arthur also added that the Taycan is very suitable for use in metropolises in Asia because it has very capable performance and mileage.
“In our tests, the Taycan was able to have a range of more than 500 km and this is very good, you can walk without charging for weeks if you only use it in the city,” said Arthur.
Moreover, charging infrastructure has begun to be widely available in big cities and customers can charge it when they are active. Plus when it’s charging, the Taycan can precool or turn on the air conditioner before the user returns to the car, which is perfect for hot regions like Asia.
Currently, Porsche has teamed up with Shell for the first cross-border high-charging network (HPC) in Southeast Asia. This charging facility offers the highest charging capacity in all of Singapore and Malaysia with a 180 kW direct current (DC) charger.
“Our collaboration with Shell for fast charging also has the potential to expand to other countries,” said Arthur.
For fast charging, Porsche also developed the Porsche Destination Charging network and it recently added a new facility at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club for free use by all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles with a Type 2 CCS charging connector.
In terms of the product itself, the Porsche Taycan now has various variants to meet the needs of its buyers. Starting from the entry-level Taycan with rear-wheel drive and one electric motor, to the high-performance variant, the Taycan Turbo S, which has four electric motors on all wheels and is capable of producing 750 horsepower.
For vehicle personalization, the Porsche Taycan also has 600 options that buyers can choose from. This includes lots of fun colors, such as the Taycan Rear Wheel Drive Frozen Berry paint.
According to Arthur, overall the Porsche Taycan provides a very good experience for customers. This is based on the opinions of customers after driving their cars. The Porsche Taycan is claimed to have a driving sensation like the Porsche 911 but with the characteristics of an electric car. How this car bends and the rigidity of the chassis is typical of a Porsche.
“The Porsche Taycan is a good and convincing product, providing a good user experience so that new customers as well as existing customers to promote this car to their colleagues,” said Arthur.
Porsche Asia Pacific is also moving quickly to reach out to customers when the COVID-19 pandemic occurs and hampers customer mobility, including viewing cars in showrooms or sending their cars for service.
“We react very quickly, reaching out to customers and contact them, we ensure that all services can run properly,” said Arthur.
In Indonesia, Porsche under the auspices of PT Eurokars Artha Utama as the official importer also received a very good response for the Porsche Taycan. This is evident from orders that are quite good and exceeding expectations, Eurokars currently is securing additional stock to meet customer demands.
“Our customers have been delighted and surprised by the product, also very pleased we have a dedicated team to help install charging systems in their home to ensure safety,” said Jason Broom, Managing Director Porsche Indonesia.
This claim by Porsche is also shared by Ali Setiawan, a sports car enthusiast who recently bought a Porsche Taycan. Ali is the former chairman of the Porsche Club Indonesia for the period 2015 to 2018 who is very fond of sports cars from Porsche.
“I was initially very curious about the EV (Electric Vehicle) from Porsche whether it would have a good performance because of the difference in weight and others,” said Ali.
Finally, after trying the car, Ali was impressed with the performance of the Taycan which is very close to the characteristics of the Porsche DNA for handling, aerodynamics, and suspension. According to him, the Taycan is not only about speed in a straight line like other EV cars are touting.
“The Taycan also has better build quality on the exterior and interior than other EV cars, truly a car made for the future,” said Ali.
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