Sylt/Stuttgart. Experience the brand with even more emotion: Porsche is expanding its global dealership network with a new form of showroom that offers a unique brand experience. With “Porsche on Sylt”, Porsche has opened its first ever branch on the North Sea island. The site includes a showroom, a rental offering for Porsche Drive, products from Porsche Design and the Porsche Driver’s Selection, vehicle advice and a small workshop. Porsche hopes that this concept will enable the company to better reach existing and new target groups, and meet them on a more personal level. The new “Porsche on Sylt” site is the first of its kind, with more to follow in Beirut and Guangzhou during the year.
“Porsche on Sylt represents the beginning of a new format that will allow customers around the world to be even more enthusiastic about our brand. A Porsche is never just a means of mobility – our products clearly stand for thrilling driving enjoyment. This is a philosophy that runs through all our formats and services that are offered to customers worldwide”, says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG.
As host, Porsche invites fans and owners of Porsche vehicles to the new site in Tinnum, Sylt to come and experience the extensive and varied offering. Spending time at “Porsche on Sylt” and diving into the brand world is just as unmissable as hiring a car through Porsche Drive and going for a spin around the island. Digital content is combined with analogue perception. The new site uses the latest technology to deliver a unique brand experience: Virtual reality headsets offer visitors the chance to experience the cockpit of the new Panamera. All five model ranges of the sports car manufacturer can be visualised in augmented reality in the customer’s preferred colour using an iPad and various model cars based on the typical clay models from the Design Studio.
“As a new contact point for the brand, the Sylt site provides us with the ideal opportunity to meet customers and fans in a relaxed environment”, says Jens Puttfarcken, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche Deutschland GmbH. “The focus here is clearly not on selling cars, but offering interested customers the chance to configure vehicles of any model range to their personal preferences at first hand.” Should any of the visitors express an interest in buying a Porsche, one of the 86 German Porsche Centres near the visitor’s home address will then take over the order, sale, and delivery of the car.
Of the area covering 500 square metres, one section is reserved for alternating exhibitions. Currently, the space is occupied by the legendary 911 Carrera RS 2.7 from 1972, one of the most sought-after collector’s cars in the world. Surrounding it are some of its other contemporaries including the BIC car, itself a distinctive design and cultural icon of the 1970s.
The architecture of the “Porsche on Sylt” building is designed to blend in with the sophisticated style of the North Sea island. The tamped concrete facade is evocative of Sylt’s beaches, and the recessed upper floor made of photochromic glass embodies the openness of the island. The elegant showroom, the high-quality materials and a small catering area offer a welcoming space for visitors to spend some time. The adjacent workshop also offers advice and minor repairs if needed. If more extensive repairs or servicing are required, the car can be transported to a Porsche Centre of the customer’s choice on the mainland.
In addition to the Porsche Experience Centres and showrooms that bring the brand alive, further new service formats are planned for the future. Drop-off points will offer even more tailored opportunities for customers to hand their cars over to Porsche for a pending service. These will include hotels, airports or even specifically chosen locations. The time that this will save customers is a central element of the strategy, and is intended to make the ownership experience even more positive. The first pilot projects are currently being rolled out in the USA.
