Yahoo Autos Porsche Will Build a 250-HP 718 Boxster and Cayman
As ever, the best entry-level Porsche is a used one, but customers in China have a new alternative to the second-hand route. To lower the barrier of entry for its sports cars, Porsche is planning a 250-hp version of the 718 Boxster and Cayman for the Chinese market, but don't expect to see it anywhere else.
The reason Porsche is doing this, reports Automotive News, is that Porsche sports car sales are relatively low in China, even though it's the company's single biggest market. As an example, Porsche sells 16 times more Cayennes in China than it does 911s. Before the 718 arrived, the base Cayman sold for over 700,000 renminbi (~$105,000 USD) in China, but Porsche says the ideal price for a sports car there is 600,000 renminbi (~$90,000).
With a detuned 718 Boxster and Cayman as the base, Porsche can hit that lower price target and hopefully increase sales. Porsche isn't the only sports car maker to do this either: McLaren sells detuned versions of the 570S and 650S–the 540C and 625C, respectively–for the Chinese market only.
While U.S. Porsche fans would love a cheaper sports car from the company, we don't really have any reason to be jealous of Chinese customers. For one, the base 718 is vastly more expensive there than it is here, and it's basically the same car, made less quick.
