Porsche sales up 20% in the MENA region

Last year, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer shipped 6,842 vehicles to the MENA region, a 20 percent increase on the 2009.

“We are back on the fast track,” said Bernhard Maier, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Porsche Middle East and Africa.

Across the MENA region, the Porsche Cayenne was the most popular model, accounting for over half of sales in 2010 and more than 24,000 sales since it was launched in the region in 2003.

The biggest increase in sales was reported in Qatar where the carmaker’s Doha distributors reported a 70 percent surge in sales.

The luxury car’s popularity in the region was demonstrated at the Qatar Motor Show, where Porsche unveiled a special edition of the Panamera model which will be exclusive to the Middle East and has unique paintwork and interiors especially targeted to Arab buyers.

Porsche is currently the focus of a merger with fellow German manufacturer Volkswagen, of which Qatar Holding also owns a ten percent stake in.

The merger is currently being held up by legal action in the US. A US judge in Manhattan dismissed two lawsuits last month that claimed the sports-car maker cost hedge funds more than $2bn by misleading short-sellers in its 2008 acquisition of Volkswagen shares.

Once the legal hurdle has been overcome, it is believed the merger of the car manufacturers will be completed by the end of the year.

“Qatar Holding considers the merger between Volkswagen and Porsche to be beneficial to all stakeholders and continues to support this initiative,” a Qatar Holding source told Dow Jones newswire earlier this month.

Gas-rich Qatar has used its wealth fund to purchase a string of trophy assets around the world. The emirate’s portfolio includes luxury department store Harrods, purchased in 2010 for $2bn, a five percent stake in Banco Santander’s Brazilian unit and a stake in the London Stock Exchange.