Yamaha 90201-28m01-00 Washer, Plate on 2040-parts.com

New products to drive Porsche's sales goals

Porsche may add an entry-level sports car as part of a plan to double global sales to 200,000 units by 2018. The new four-cylinder sports car would be in addition to a small SUV and a plug-in hybrid supercar recently approved for production. Matthias Mueller, the former Volkswagen executive who took over as Porsche CEO in October, says a new product strategy will be completed by the end of March.

Detroit Electric delays SP:01 again

Detroit Electric, the new startup with an old name, said it is delaying production because it hasn't secured a lease or purchase agreement for its manufacturing facility in Plymouth, Mich. It is also talking to some new partners, though the company declined to name them. North American president Don Graunstadt told the Detroit News, “To further elaborate at this juncture is, unfortunately, not possible as Detroit Electric have entered into negotiations with other parties that have the potential to impact our business strategy and timing,” Graunstadt said.

German new car sales drop 11 per cent – pre-reg accounts for 33.5 per cent

New car sales in Germany dropped by 11 per cent in September with pre-reg cars accounting for over a third of all sales. That drop of 11 per cent in Germany is despite deep discount offers – an average of 12.2 per cent in September – with even the previously invincible Mercedes and VW having to offer discounts of up to €3k, despite which VW’s sales fell by 20 per cent in Germany and Mercedes by 12 per cent. What’s perhaps most interesting about the decline in car sales in Germany is the number of pre-reg cars sold (pre reg cars are cars registered by dealers to hit sales targets and then sold at a discount of up to 25 per cent).