Porsche Panamera beats sales targets, company raises forecast

2010 Porsche Panamera

Porsche has revised its full-year forecast after realizing that the Panamera sedan attracted more buyers than analysts predicted. The original forecast in March predicted a year ending July 31 loss in the low single-digit billion euros, but the new forecast predicts a loss of less than a billion euros. Nine-month sales by the car manufacturing unit rose 12% to 5.2 billion euros, while operating profit was 600 million euros.

“These are good numbers,” said Daniel Schwarz, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt who has a “reduce” recommendation on the stock. “The Panamera is proving a boon to Porsche’s car business. They’re doing better than expected.” Porsche aims to sell 20,000 Panameras, which start at 75,899 euros in Germany, for FY2010.

Porsche has also seen its debt drastically decrease, which is expected to contribute to overall share prices.

2010 Porsche Panamera:

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)