Porsche Leads Rise Of Canada’s Luxury Auto Sector

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TORONTO — Sales of luxury vehicles hit a record in Canada last year and Porsche Cars Canada Inc. is riding the wave, reported the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Porsche posted the best year-over-year percentage increase of any auto maker in Canada, topping off a four-year run that has doubled sales.

“The Canadian economy has created quite a tailwind for us,” Alexander Pollich, Porsche Canada president, said in an interview at Downtown Porsche, one of three dealerships the Germany-based auto maker has in the Greater Toronto Area.

The growth in luxury vehicle sales is leading many auto makers to expand amid the boom, which is powered by demographics and new vehicles that are taking high-end manufacturers into new segments of the market.

Luxury auto makers added 10 outlets across the country last year on top of eight openings in 2013, noted industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc.

“This is the largest two-year increase in luxury dealerships since 2003,” Mr. DesRosiers said. And there’s more growth coming after luxury vehicles grabbed 10 per cent of the Canadian market last year for the first time, and could top more than 12 per cent of sales by the end of the decade.

Porsche Canada has added outlets and will continue expanding, Mr. Pollich said. The company has been boosted, in part, by the Macan – a compact crossover that underscores how the expansion of luxury players into new segments is propelling growth.

Compact crossovers are the hottest segment of the market. The Macan, which starts at $54,300, represents Porsche’s first entry into the segment.