Forget Your Local Mechanic, Porsche Wants To Service Your Classic

Porsche wants to cash in on classic cars.

Vintage Porsche models are extremely collectible and have been skyrocketing in price recently. In fact, classic Porsche models are such a large market, even Porsche itself has decided to build parts to help these cars on the road. More than 70% of all Porsche cars ever built are still on the road, most of which are serviced by independent shops.

While Porsche can certainly brag about how many of its cars are still on the road, it doesn't really do the German automaker any good if they are all being serviced by private mechanics. According to Automotive News, the company will expand its Porsche Classic operations to capture more business from classic car owners.

Porsche Classic currently has 10 dealers in the US, which can repair, maintain, and even perform factory-sanctioned restoration on classic models. While 10 dealers is a nice start, Porsche wants to include more of its 190 stores in the program, though Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer didn't mention exactly how many dealers would be included. "What I can tell you is, I think there needs to be a lot more," Zellmer said. "Strategically speaking, we need to ramp up our game because that's a business field where we can still grow."

Even though Porsche classic only has 10 stores, its business is growing at a rapid 10% per year (the fastest growth of any Porsche business in the US). "The business here in the States is growing at a much higher rate than anything else we do at the moment," Zellmer said. "There's a lot of work that we need to do here in the United States in order to take care of those wonderful pieces of art."

Becoming a Porsche Classic dealer isn't easy. The factory takes into account the age and size of the showroom, the dealer's demographics, the quality of the service technicians, and the amount of volume through the service department. If approved, a Porsche Classic dealer can work on any class Porsche model - any model that has been out of production for 10 years or more.

Porsche Classic currently provides over 52,000 parts to dealers and independent shops to help keep classic models on the road. Over 300 new parts are added each year, and soon, more dealers will be added to ensure these vehicles stay in working order and Porsche keeps rolling in profits.

View the original article here