Porsche hopes Macan SUV will emulate Cayenne’s success in China

Porsche said it expects the Macan compact SUV to have a significant volume impact when it goes on sale in China in the second half of next year.

Currently, Porsche’s best-selling vehicle in China is the Cayenne, with the carmaker hoping to build on the success of the larger SUV in order to increase sales in the world’s largest car market. “The Macan will have a significant volume impact. I’m very confident that when this car has been fully launched in the full year, China will be the number one market,” Helmut Broeker, head of China operations, told Bloomberg in an interview.

The carmaker also plans to double its number of dealerships in the country from 49 now to 95 in 2014, he added. In 2013, Porsche will open about 20 dealerships in cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Foshan and Chengdu. Broeker said he wants sales this year to be a “few cars” above 2012 levels, when deliveries rose 28 percent to a record 31,205 units.

Porsche has benefited from a surge in demand for SUVs – the fastest-growing segment in China’s auto market. The Cayenne accounted for about 65 percent of Porsche’s deliveries in the country. The automaker will also launch new editions of the four-door Panamera and Cayman this year. The Panamera is Porsche’s second-best selling model in China with deliveries at about 9,000 units last year.