1997 Porsche Boxster Base Convertible 2-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Car companies may need to start curbing model proliferation

Looking at the current automotive landscape, especially from German makers, you quickly get the impression that less definitely isn't more. BMW alone offers its 3 Series platform in practically every segment possible, including the regular sedan and 4 Series Gran Coupe, which would seem to be direct competitors. Porsche might be the winner, though, with 20 different variants of the 911 listed for sale on its US website. However, some of this model madness might be reaching an end as companies begin cutting back spending or shifting money to other priorities.
According to Yahoo Finance, the offerings from the German automakers are up 25 percent over the past three years to over 200 models in Europe. The peak is expected to come around 2018 at 230 separate vehicles, according to consulting company PwC.
Amazingly, BMW, which is among the poster children for this model explosion, might be changing its tune. "I'm sure there will be points in the future where we look at certain cars and say, 'Maybe we need to think differently now,'" said head of sales Ian Robertson in an interview, according to Yahoo Finance. The statement certainly sounds shocking coming from a company rumored to have 23 front-wheel-drive vehicles all using a single platform on the way.

Cars selling highest above MSRP and lowest below MSRP

Automakers have returned to offering incentives and promoting new vehicles after a few years of tight inventory and elevated prices. Despite that, prices are still higher than they should be, as a new iSeeCars study found that the average new car is priced above MSRP, though they’re slightly less painful than they were a year ago. iSeeCars found that the average new car price has been marked up to 7.2 percent above MSRP, down from 8.9 percent a year ago. Interestingly, the five most overpriced cars came from two premium brands, while four of the five priced the lowest below MSRP were EVs. New cars selling highest above MSRP Mini Hardtop: 25.5% above MSRP Porsche Taycan Sedan: 23.1% Porsche Cayenne: 21.9% Porsche Macan: 21.3% Porsche Taycan Wagon: 20.9% Cadillac CT5-V: 20% Porsche 718 Boxster: 19.9% Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid: 19.4% BMW X3 M: 19.4% Cadillac CT4-V: 19.3% Porsche, Mini, and Genesis were the three most overpriced brands overall, with Buick, Acura, and Infiniti landing as the lowest-priced brands. Electric vehicles dominated the list of the 10 most-discounted vehicles: New cars selling lowest below MSRP Hyundai Kona Electric: -4.6% VW ID.4: -3.6% Ford F-150 Hybrid: -3.3% Kia EV6: -2.5% Hyundai Ioniq 6: -2.4% Nissan Maxima: -2.2% Chrysler Pacifica PHEV: -2% Nissan Ariya: -1.9% Hyundai Ioniq 5: -1.9% VW Arteon: -1.8% Those numbers align with what we saw in the market last year, as EV sales grew, but far slower than many had hoped. iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said. (For a sense of that, you can look back at our coverage of most marked-up cars and most discounted cars from 2023.) “The market appears to have reached a saturation point for electric vehicles," Brauer said, "with both prices and sales struggling compared to a year ago. The high cost of full-size trucks and SUVs, along with the cost of fueling them in the face of inflation and reduced consumer spending power, has dampened demand for these notoriously pricey vehicles.”

Former Porsche execs acquitted of stock manipulation charges

A German court acquitted former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and former CFO Holger Harter of stock manipulation charges, according to Bloomberg. Prosecutors alleged the men hid plans to takeover Volkswagen while publicly denying their intentions to investors. The presiding judge didn't find any merit to those claims, though. "There is nothing to the allegations, absolutely nothing," Judge Frank Maurer said, according to Bloomberg. "There was no secret plan to take over VW." Rather than Porsche taking over VW, the exact opposite eventually happened, and both execs stepped down. Investigators first indicted Wiedeking and Harter for alleged stock manipulation in late 2012. A court in Stuttgart dismissed the case in 2014 because of a lack of evidence, but an appeals court later overruled that decision. The current trial finally began in October 2015. If convicted, Wiedeking faced up to 30 months in prison, and Harter could have received up to 27 months, Bloomberg reported. Prosecutors also wanted one million euro ($1.1 million) fines from them and 807 million euros ($910 million) from Porsche. The acquittal might not be the end of this long-running case, though. In Germany, prosecutors have the right to appeal a ruling, and the lawyer hasn't made a final decision yet. If the court thinks there's a reason, the former execs could be back in front of a judge at some point in the future.