In 2011 Porsche has increased deliveries to China by more than 83% for the period between January and October, compared with the same period last year, and it expects China to replace the US as its biggest export market by 2014. The increase means a step up in business for BLG Automobile Logistics, which handles transport from the carmaker’s Leipzig plant and processing through the German port of Bremerhaven for export to China.
Porsche delivered 20,687 vehicles to China in October and is expecting to increase sales there this year by 70% to reach more than 20,000 units. This is thanks in large part to the popularity of the Cayenne SUV (the most sought-after model worldwide), which has generated 55% of sales. There is also strong demand for the four-door Panamera, which is reported to account for 30% of sales. Projections that that figure will double by 2015, thanks also to the introduction of the compact Cajun SUV, which goes into production at the carmaker’s Leipzig plant extension in 2013, has led Porsche to forecast that China will surpass the US as the German carmaker’s largest market by 2015. Porsche’s sports car line up accounts for the remaining 15% of sales.
Quoted in the China Daily,Helmut Broeker, CEO of Porsche (China) Motors said: "China has been our second-biggest market, with more than half of sales coming from our SUV model, the Cayenne. We expect it to beat the US to be our number one market in 2014, with significant sales growth from the coming, smaller SUV model, the Cajun."
The German luxury carmaker plans to invest another €500m in Leipzig facility to build the Cajun.
In anticipation of higher sales, Broeker said that Porsche plans to have 100 dealerships in China by the end of 2014, up from 39 this year.
That 70% growth this year and the potential doubling of exports by 2015 means the company’s logistics providers are facing a significant increase in traffic between Europe and China given that all vehicles sold in China are exported from Europe.
BLG Logistics, which will handle 60,000 Porsche vehicles for export this year, nearly double that handled last year, provides services including port handling, technical services and road transport. It also offers rail transport services at the German North Sea ports as part of its BLG AutoRail service. Porsche vehicles for China are moved from Leipzig by DB Schenker Rail Autotomotive and shipped by ocean via Bremerhaven, while those shipped to the US go via the port of Emden.
“Driven by China, Bremerhaven is planning to handle 45,000 Porsche cars in 2012,” a spokesman for the company told Automotive Logistics. He went on to say that BLG is working together with Porsche on various projects, including covered storage in the BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven, investment in a new unloading station for railcars on the terminal and rail transportation from the factory in Leipzig, where the Cayenne and Panamera are manufactured, to the port of Bremerhaven.
This increase helped BLG handle almost 1.5m vehicle through Bremerhaven in the first nine months of this year, compared to 1.1m in the same period in 2010.
Earlier this year BLG Automobile Logistics received the Porsche Supplier Award 2011 for its provision of vehicle transport and cargo handling at the Bremerhaven Auto Terminal.
It is not confirmed whether BLG Logistics new joint venture with the Chinese supply chain provider Cinko SCM will be handling Porsche processing at Tianjin’s ro-ro terminal. However, it has been confirmed that the venture, BLG Cinko Autotec, will be handling import vehicles from Europe for the Chinese market. Read more here
Talking about its future production plans for the country, Broeker told the China Daily that it had "not decided" yet whether to locally produce the Cajun model because "local production of the vehicle would need at least 25,000 to 50,000 units in annual sales".
