Porsche to Introduce Cayman Sports Car to Boost Vehicle Sales

Feb. 23, 2005; Jeremy Van Loon writing for Bloomberg reported that Porsche AG, the world's most profitable carmaker, will introduce a new sports car called the Cayman to reach a goal of selling 100,000 vehicles a year by 2008.

The Cayman, based on the Boxster model series and powered by a 295-horsepower engine, will be positioned between the Boxster S and 911 Carrera cars, Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche said in a faxed statement today. Juergen Pippig, a spokesman, declined to say how many Caymans Porsche plans to sell or how much the car will cost.

Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking has boosted Porsche's earnings 10 years in a row, helped by new models including the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle and the Boxster, which first went on sale in 1997. The company last year rolled out new versions of the Boxster and 911 to fend off competition from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's Z4 and DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes SLK models.

The Cayman is named after a small member of the crocodile family and represents the car's ``strength and agility,'' the company said. The model will be introduced at this year's Frankfurt car show.

The Boxster in Germany is priced at 43,068 euros ($56,900), including value-added tax, and the 911 starts at 64,700 euros. The Cayman will be priced between the two models, Porsche said today.