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BOXSTER THE 1996 - P resent
Porsche Model Spotlight
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There are two reasons I remember 1996, firstly and most importantly, in March, I had a client coming in to buy a car...
Not unusual for a car dealership you might say, yet this was the moment I met my beautiful wife Sharon. We were married in the last month of last century, Dec 1999.
The other important, historic, Porsche fact was the release of our Boxster which we have recently celebrated its anniversary with the Boxster 25 Year Anniversary model. It was the car that opened a new segment and saved Porsche and is still selling like hot cakes today.
The International launch of the Boxster was held in Scottsdale, Arizona in September 1996. We were able to drive this all new concept of a sports car through the mountains and across the desert plains of Arizona, along with Police escorts! There were 70 to 80 brand new Boxsters there for us to sample, all sorts of colours and all so exciting. I watched the unveiling of three Boxsters on stage whilst sitting next to Jerry Seinfeld an avid Porsche collector and friend of Dr Wendelin Wiedeking the CEO of Porsche AG from 1993 to 2009. Later at the black tie event, Liza Minelli performed for us and on another night under the stars and in the desert, Jerry Seinfeld did a few of his observational comedy routines!
Out of the crisis with a brilliant idea
The early 1990s were a very difficult period for Porsche AG economically. Declining sales figures – partly due to the fall in value of the US dollar – and the excessively high production costs of the company’s four technically very independent product lines, the 911, 944, 968 and 928, meant that the sports car manufacturer was in serious trouble. It even became a takeover target for large car manufacturers. But the introduction of the completely newly developed Porsche Boxster in 1996 marked a turning point in the company’s fortunes. The agile, midengine roadster not only opened up a new market segment for Porsche, but also attracted a significantly younger customer group, thanks to price positioning below the established 911.
