Porsche NOW Pop-up Stores Preview The Future of Car Dealers

It’s not just franchise auto dealers who are competing with Tesla and its direct-sales model — other manufacturers want to get in on the action, too, and Porsche is going one better than a website and an order book. Porsche is launching Porsche NOW and Porsche Studio pup-up centers in an effort to create new points of contact with the brand and meet Porsche customers where they are: high-end, urban shopping environments.

“With the urban sales formats, we have sought and found new ways to reach customers,” says Marco Kana, Director of Sales Retail at Porsche. “Whether it is a Porsche Studio or one of our Porsche NOW sales pop-ups, these innovative formats offer easy access to the brand and are ideally suited to developing contact opportunities with new target groups. We will continue to develop these innovative retail formats over the coming years.”

The move highlights the acknowledged need for legacy brands to go where their customers are, and not simply build a huge showroom and wait for customers to walk into. The Porsche pop-ups also acknowledge another modern business buzzword, FOMO. That’s because the new pop-ups are only in place for a limited time, making them a must-stop shop in the event that you happen upon one.

“Along with the cars on show,” reads Porsche’s official release, “fans and customers can also experience the Porsche Drivers Selection, see the offerings from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and use the virtual reality apps and private configuration lounge. In summer 2021, the island of Jeju, in South Korea, and Zurich, in Switzerland, played host to Porsche NOW pop-ups. The ‘NOW’ element of the name is all about making the most of the moment.”

More than 20 Porsche pop-up centers have been set up in 23 countries to date, and they’ve been successful enough to justify a significant expansion, with current plans to have the opening of the first US-based Porsche pop-up in Portland in the spring of 2022.

What do you guys think, is Porsche continuing to do the right thing by going where its customers are, or will its outreach efforts be undone as soon as a Porsche NOW rep directs a customer to the local dealer? Scroll on down to the comments and let us know what you think.

Source | Images: Porsche, via CarBuzz.