German performance carmaker Porsche is eyeing a new set of Indian customers, the corporate clientele, for the newly launched Macan facelift. And it’s not just the refreshed SUV’s interior and exterior updates that take credit for the expected change in buyer profile. Porsche believes the newly rolled-out service package will be an important draw for corporate customers.
"So far, a large proportion of our buyers were businessmen but I think corporates are an equally important segment. We'll try to attract them with the service packages because they would definitely like to know the finite cost of owning a Porsche," said Pavan Shetty, director, Porsche India, to Autocar India in an interview.
Porsche offers the Standard and Elite maintenance plans for the two models. For the Macan, these are priced at Rs 1.53 lakh and Rs 5.56 lakh, respectively. For the Macan S, the plans are priced at Rs 1.61 lakh and Rs 5.73 lakh, respectively. The prices are valid for 60,000km or 4 years. The carmaker says not only will this give a clear idea to corporates of the costs involved in owning a Porsche but will also protect them from the rising costs of parts and labour.
The Macan facelift retains the car's low-slung proportions but receives a few interesting additions such as a new light strip linking the tail-lights and four-dot DRLs in the headlamp. Inside, there's a reworked dashboard and a bigger 10.9-inch touchscreen in place of the 7.2-inch system. However, the biggest change is in its price.
With a price of Rs 69.98 lakh for the entry-level Macan, Porsche has managed to shave off a significant Rs 10 lakh from the pre-facelift model's price point in order to make the SUV accessible to a wider audience. "We made an effort to achieve that price because we see a lot of customers in that price segment who are drivers. This would make it a lot more lucrative to buyers who like to drive and the service package makes it an all-round choice," Shetty said.
As part of its efforts, Porsche has changed the value proposition of the Macan to bring its price down. For instance, the pre-facelift model came with air suspension as standard; but now it doesn't, Shetty said, adding, "We chose between what's good to have versus need to have." Instead, the Macan gets a steel-spring suspension as standard with Porsche Stability Management (PSM) and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM).
In terms of the future launches, the carmaker is gearing up to introduce the Cayenne coupé in India, this year, followed by the all-electric Taycan.
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