2019 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 And Spyder Say No To Turbos

Fans of high-revving naturally-aspirated engines, rejoice. The Porsche Cayman GT4 is returning to the road, eschewing the rest of the line鈥檚 turbo flat-fours 鈥?and it鈥檚 bringing an open-top Spyder with it. Porsche officially announced the pair late Monday. Standing at the top of the 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman ranges, the Spyder and GT4 are both mechanically identical, packing the same 414hp 4.0-liter, flat-six engine. The new engine is unrelated to the similarly-sized heart of the 911 GT3; instead it shares its origins with the 911 Carrera鈥檚 turbocharged engine. Nonetheless, free of snails, it should be a singer, with a redline of 8,000rpm. Torque sits at 309lbft, which should encourage regular rowing of the (standard) six-speed manual transmission. There鈥檚 no mention of a PDK either: the only shifting assist is an automatic rev-matching feature for downshifts, which can be turned off. Whether buyers opt for the purist hardtop or the wind-in-your-hair Spyder, both cars tip the scale at 3130lb. That gives them an identical 0-60mph dash of 4.2 seconds 鈥?we assume with the lightweight roof up on the Spyder.

Steel brake rotors are standard, with Porsche鈥檚 carbon-ceramic discs available as an option. The GT4 and Spyder both gain a harder-edged look outside too. A large front lip spoiler is joined by a functional diffuser out back. On the GT4 this accounts for 30% of the rear axle downforce; the Spyder becomes the first Boxster model to generate aerodynamic downforce at the rear because of it. The Spyder鈥檚 rear spoiler deploys automatically at 74mph, whereas the GT4鈥檚 larger fixed item produces 20% more downforce than the previous model. All in, Porsche says the 718 Cayman GT4 can post lap times a full 10 seconds faster than the original GT4. That puts it at an even 7:30 鈥?faster than the 911 GT2 of only a decade ago. Changes to the interior are minimal. Both cars get a GT Sport steering wheel, with a handy centering line on the GT4鈥檚 rim. Porsche has also shaved a half inch off the gear lever鈥檚 height for more directness. In select markets, a Clubsport package will include a half-cage, fire extinguisher, and six-point driver鈥檚 side seatbelt.

Like most companies, Porsche uses a hybrid of strategies for segmenting and targeting their desired markets. Porsche and other, rather progressive, companies don鈥檛 rely on ridged or inflexible rules to adhere by. Porsche may approach these strategies unconventionally but certainly are using a conventional base for segmenting and targeting markets. Porsche, being a niche/specialty company within a bigger industry, recognizes that having criteria for successfully segmenting and targeting a market is imperative. Their strategy for creating a segmentation scheme has four simple but crucial basic criteria. Substantiality: A segment must be large enough to warrant developing and maintaining a special marketing mix. This criterion does not mean that a segment must have many potential customers. Marketers of Porsche develop marketing programs that can be tailored to each potential customer鈥檚 needs. Identifiability and measurability: Segments must be identifiable and their size measurable. Data about the population within geographic boundaries, the number of people in various age categories, and other social and demographic characteristics are often easy to get, and they provide fairly concrete measures of segment size.

This is where Porsche excels. They are great at measuring how many of the consumers are willing, indifferent or unwilling purchase their cars. With their 鈥渄ata鈥?they are able to tweak sales and promotional campaigns. Accessibility: The firm must be able to reach members of targeted segments with customized marketing mixes. This aspect may be hard for most companies, but not for Porsche. Porsche is able to speak a language that is ubiquitous and has molded the company, within the car industry, as a globalized one. This makes Porsche that must easier to be reached and understood. Responsiveness: Markets can be segmented using any criteria that seem logical. Unless one market segment responds to a marketing mix differently than other segments, however, that segment need not be treated separately. Porsche understands that the responsiveness on a new product they have or one being developed (the Maccan) is a great assessment as to whether, improve that product鈥檚 depth, or move on to a newer project.

Some 1.52 million cars were built in the UK in 2018, a 9.1 per cent decline on the previous year, when 1.67 million left factories. Brexit-related uncertainty, diesel downturn, regulatory changes, model cycles, market stagnation in Europe, and slowdown in China have been cited amongst the reasons for the manufacturing slump. The biggest concern for UK automotive, however, which employs around 856,000 people across the wider industry, is the fall in investment witnessed last year. The chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Mike Hawes, said: 鈥淭he most disturbing feature of the figures is about automotive investment. Last year, total automotive investment was 拢588.6 million for the year. The previous year was about 拢1.1 billion. The year before that it was about 拢1.6 billion. If you look at a running average over the last three or four years, it鈥檚 about 拢2.5 billion. Hawes placed blame for the stalled investment firmly at the feet of Brexit: 鈥淲e know uncertainty is the big enemy of business. Declining investment is 鈥渁lso about sentiment鈥? Hawes added. 鈥淵ou can be very competitive and have all the right positions鈥ut do you feel confident about investing in the UK for the longer term?