Topic: 2014 Porsche Cajun

[PlanB]

Bad move IMHO. Watering down the brand too much. There should not be a Porsche for every purse.

I have always thought the same.  If Porsche was still a stand-alone brand, I doubt this would have happened.  But this is VW we are talking about - they need to have products that the "common-people" can afford to buy as they see profits at that lower price-point, not prestige unfortunately. 

Audi, BMW and MB are already "expensive" commodity brands.
Porsche is close to becoming one.

In my books, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lambo, Aston Martin etc. are true aspirational Brands.
I don't even consider Land Rover or Jaguar to be aspirational Brands.

You can scratch AM off your list as they are well on their way to developing a small city-car like the Smart Car. 

[Erik]

Audi, BMW and MB are already "expensive" commodity brands.
Porsche is close to becoming one.

In my books, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lambo, Aston Martin etc. are true aspirational Brands.
I don't even consider Land Rover or Jaguar to be aspirational Brands.

Basically, I agree with what you write. I probably never saw Audi as particularly aspirational. More a German Buick. I remember when I grew up, a Mercedes was something very special. Hasn't been that way for a while. Then again, that goes for Cadillac too. I still think there is a specialness to Jaguar though. Aston Martin is doing there best to no longer be aspirational, especially with the new Cimarron, I mean Cygnet.

[Erik]

Bad move IMHO. Watering down the brand too much. There should not be a Porsche for every purse.

I have always thought the same.  If Porsche was still a stand-alone brand, I doubt this would have happened.  But this is VW we are talking about - they need to have products that the "common-people" can afford to buy as they see profits at that lower price-point, not prestige unfortunately. 

Audi, BMW and MB are already "expensive" commodity brands.
Porsche is close to becoming one.

In my books, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lambo, Aston Martin etc. are true aspirational Brands.
I don't even consider Land Rover or Jaguar to be aspirational Brands.

You can scratch AM off your list as they are well on their way to developing a small city-car like the Smart Car. 

You know, I probably wouldn't even mind it if Aston was actually developing a city car. All they are doing is re-trimming a Toyota, charging twice as much for it, and calling it an Aston. Crass commercialism at it's worst.

[tortoise]

I think Aston is actually working harder to be aspirational by producing the Cygnet.  Under the regulations they need that ultra fuel efficient car to be able to keep dropping that glorious V12 into everything under their sun.  If they didn't make it Aston would have to dilute the entire brand to meet those emission requirements.

IMO this Cajun doesn't look upscale enough to sell as a Porsche.  They did a better job distinguishing the Cayenne from the Touerag.   For some reason when I see this I think of the new Tuscon.

[Erik]

I think Aston is actually working harder to be aspirational by producing the Cygnet.  Under the regulations they need that ultra fuel efficient car to be able to keep dropping that glorious V12 into everything under their sun.  If they didn't make it Aston would have to dilute the entire brand to meet those emission requirements.

IMO this Cajun doesn't look upscale enough to sell as a Porsche.  They did a better job distinguishing the Cayenne from the Touerag.   For some reason when I see this I think of the new Tuscon.

Don't see how you feel the Aston is ok, while the Porsche is not. The Cajun is much more a Porsche than the Cygnet is an Aston. The Aston is nothing more than a Toyota with a pretty paint job and a fancy interior. To someone who is not "in the know", it cannot be told apart from any other IQ.

Which one is the Aston and which one is the Toyota?





Any guesses when ebay will be full of mod kits to turn your IQ into an Aston?

At least Rolls Royce didn't try to market these as Rolls Royce city cars:

[vdk]

Watch this: http://money.cnn.com/video/luxury/2011/03/25/lux_porsche_911_ad.cnnmoney/

I can't believe Porsche is advertising the 911 as a grocery getter... sad days.

[safristi]

..after buying one it should be called a FOOD BANK GETTER......... ..