Circuit test drive event for the EV Macan held in China, kicking off the "In China, for China" approach

Porsche still won't give up on selling electric vehicles in China

Until recently, Porsche was helped by its numbers in China, but recently it has been struggling with sales in China, with sales in the Chinese market down 291 TP1T through the third quarter of 2024.

The reasons behind this sluggish sales include problems in the Chinese economy as well as intensifying competition with electric vehicles made by local manufacturers in the Chinese market.

However, despite this situation, it seems that Porsche has not yet given up on selling EV vehicles in China, and has announced that a test drive of the new fully electric Macan will be held for Chinese customers at the Shanghai International Circuit.

So far only one has been brought to Japan as an exhibition car, but will it be available for test drive on a circuit in China?

Of course, this doesn't mean that you'll be able to test drive on the circuit anytime in the future, but this is only an event that allows you to experience driving on a circuit between November 22nd and December 2nd, 2024.

The EV Macans that were available to test drive at this event were the new EV Macan 4 and the new EV Macan Turbo.

EV Macan Exclusive Style Series

There was also an EV Macan Exclusive Style Series, which introduced the following EV Macan concepts... but what are they?

Exclusive Style Series?

I didn't know that:

• Macan Concept Ultra
• Macan Concept Nightfall
• Macan Concept Glow
• Macan Concept Mystic

For now, I think Porsche wanted to hold a test drive event on a circuit to highlight how the EV Macan is a pure sports car and how its performance differs from other companies' EV vehicles.

Also appearing at the event were the new Taycan, 911, and new Cayenne.

In fact, it would be a big mistake to think that this event is just a test drive of the EV Macan.

It was an event of quite an impressive scale, and the venue also featured a large display of classic sports cars by the Porsche Heritage & Museum team.

Many of the cars on display were special cars from Porsche's history, all of which were on loan from Porsche AG.

The early 911 and the 959 Paris-Dakar that won the Paris-Dakar Rally,

Carrera GT,

917/30 Spyder, 550 Spyder, 911 GT1, 918 Spyder, 919 Hybrid which won the Le Mans 24 Hours three times, 911 RSR, and more.

No, no, isn't it too luxurious? So many Porsches from Germany to China!

There also seemed to be some off-road driving at what seemed to be the Shanghai International Circuit Off-road Circuit.

But what's strange is that even though it seems like a fairly large-scale event with so many Porsches gathered, there is no mention of the number of participants, such as "the number of participants is XXX people." Even though it was such a luxurious event, the invitations were limited to "those who are really likely to buy an EV Macan," so it may have been a fairly exclusive event.

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Porsche China's technical department's approach is "in China, for China"

Porsche also announced the appointment of Li Nan, a Chinese national, as vice president of technical affairs at Porsche China in Shanghai, emphasizing its approach as "in China for China."

The technical department will be expanded to include local sourcing and quality assurance activities and will be operated under the name "China One R&D" (reporting directly to the CEO of Porsche China).

Li, who has been appointed as vice president of technology, has previously held senior positions at Mercedes-Benz and has extensive experience in the fields of infotainment, big data, and AI. Porsche expects him to contribute to further product development and customer orientation in the Chinese market.

In order to ensure a seamless integration of the development work in Shanghai with the Weissach headquarters, Li worked in Weissach for six months before starting his new role in Shanghai.

Porsche seems keen to leave future solutions to locals who can better understand the specific needs and expectations of Chinese customers.

With the addition of Li, a Chinese national who is originally from China and can better understand Chinese thinking and demand, we are looking forward to seeing whether they can convey the appeal of Porsche (especially EVs) to Chinese customers and use clever sales methods suited to the country to revive Porsche sales in the Chinese market.

Source:
◆ (Official)New all-electric Macan makes its customer test drive debut in China
◆ (Official)Li Nan appointed Vice President of the Technical Division at Porsche China

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