AUSTRALIA - Jaguar F-Type needs to respond to Porsche price cuts.

Jaguar F-Type needs to respond to Porsche price cuts.

Price cuts and/or feature upgrades are a chance for the Jaguar F-Type despite strong early demand for the roadster. Jaguar Land Rover Asia-Pacific boss David Blackhall says Porsche's price cuts in response to the launch of the F-Type earlier this year prompted JLR to re-evaluate.

The results seems to say (Porsche) took a look at the car and the segment and thought ‘We're going to protect our turf'." Blackhall says. 'We were comfortable with where the F-Type's price and position ended up but when the goalposts moved, we've had to respond to that."

The F-Type Jaguar is priced between the Porsche Boxster and 911 cabrio, ranging from $138,645 for the base supercharged V6 to $201,945 for the V8 S. The Boxster range starts at $101,500 while the 911 drop-top kicks off at $228,900.

Former Porsche Australia head Michael Winkler will take over local JLR operations from November 11. His appointment comes at a time when demand for Land Rovers and Range Rovers is outstripping supply. 'We would sell in Australia almost anything we can get across the entire Land Rover range except Defender," Blackhall says.

The first shipment of 40 F-Types for Australia was pre-sold and Blackhall says a second batch of 80 also will be a sellout. 'The F-Type was never going to be a volume-seller but it is a halo car for the brand and we'll defend its position in the segment as required," Blackhall says.

Quizzed as to whether basic options - such as dual-zone aircon, manual activation of the active sports exhaust and reversing camera - would be standard to bolster the value-for-money equation, Blackhall says: 'That's all on the table as part of this review. We won't rule

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USA - Porsche celebrates another great month of sales in the US

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), importer and distributor of Porsche sports cars, Cayenne SUVs and Panamera four-door sports sedans in the United States, today announced October 2013 sales of 3,562 vehicles, an increase of 11 percent over the same period in 2012. Year-to-date, Porsche has sold 35,111 cars in the U.S., 24 percent ahead of last year’s total of 28,226, thus surpassing the entire 2012 sales volume of 35,043.

“Having sold more cars in the first 10 months of this year than the entire total of our 2012 record year is quite a feat, and it is rewarding to see that nearly half of our sales success is carried by our two-door sports cars,” said Detlev von Platen, President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. “This bodes well for the final two months and is the perfect set-up for the upcoming market introduction of the Panamera S E-Hybrid, the top-of-the-line 911 models, the GT3 and 911 Turbo and, especially, the world premiere of our fifth model line, the Macan, at the Los Angeles Auto Show.”

The Cayenne model line continued its strong performance with 1,669 units sold this month (plus 2 percent over last October). For the year, 15,582 Cayenne models have been sold in the U.S. – a year-over-year increase of 30 percent. The 911 model line, which will round out its 50th anniversary celebration this year, impressed with 748 units sold in October, up 27 percent over the same period last year. The Boxster/Cayman mid-engine models, together with the rear-engine 911, account for roughly 40 percent of overall Porsche sales in the U.S. this year.

Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned vehicle sales were 883 for October 2013, which brings the year-to-date total to 13,222 units.