Hi MIST 5720! For my blog post this week, I wanted to talk about attending the Porsche guest speaker event at UGA. Since I was young, my favorite car brand has been Porsche. I love how their cars strike a balance between class and high-performance. When I heard in class about Joe Lawrence, the Executive Vice President of Porsche Cars North America, speaking at a Terry Event, I knew I had to attend.
Background
I have always been curious how Porsche was able to continue to market their luxury cars and stay up-to-date with the latest consumer demands. One change in the automobile industry that stands out in the last few years was electric cars becoming more mainstream. After Tesla was able to pull off making electric cars more appealing to consumers, other car manufacturers like Ford and Porsche looked to enter the EV market. Porsche faced the challenge of keeping their brand’s identity of classic luxury while creating a new electric car. Here is a picture of Porsche’s first electric car, the Porsche Taycan.
Source: https://www.porsche.com/international/models/taycan/taycan-models/taycan/
Research Before the Event
Before attending the Porsche Event, I wanted to learn more about how Porsche is using the digital innovations we have discussed in class to maintain their competitive advantage. After researching, I found an article on Porsche’s website that talks about how the company is using artificial intelligence to optimize their driving systems. The two main ways they are incorporating AI into their company is by assisting in the prediction of oil foaming and reading the battery state analysis. The article mentions how Porsche was previously unable to have accurate measurements for oil foaming, but “AI solves the problem of predicting the gas content in the engine oil.” It is very impressive to me how Porsche was able to use AI to solve existing problems in their company, especially since this article is from two years ago when AI was not being talked about as much.
My Takeaways From the Event
After attending the event, I learned the reasoning behind many of Porsche’s latest moves. First, Joe Lawrence talked about how Porsche set up the North America headquarters in Atlanta because of the closer time difference to their Germany where the main headquarters is located (6 hour time difference on the East coast compared to a 9 hour difference on the west coast) and the lower cost of living in Atlanta. Also, Joe talked about how Porsche is transitioning to electric cars and the challenges the company has faced throughout the process. He mentioned how the introduction of electric cars, along with adding an SUV line with the Porsche Cayenne, has allowed Porsche to diversify their customer base, but makes it harder to balance the expectations from each segment. To battle these challenges, Joe talked about how Porsche is trying to be the sportiest car in each segment they enter to maintain the integrity of their brand. For example, with the Porsche Cayenne, the goal was to be the sportiest SUV on the market. Many Porsche enthusiasts did not want Porsche to introduce the electric Porsche Taycan, but after test driving the new vehicle, they were surprised how the car still turned corners like the previous models and overall “felt like a Porsche”.
Source: https://www.carscoops.com/2015/05/porsche-cars-north-americas-new-100/
Joe Lawrence also talked about his predictions for electric vehicles and how Porsche is trying to maintain a competitive advantage for the future. Porsche introduced the Taycan as their first electric car in 2019, and the company is looking to make an electric version of their SUV, the Porsche Macan, in the near future. Joe predicts that by 2030, 80% of Porsche’s cars will be electrified. However, there are many challenges the company faces including the infrastructure (more available charging stations) and the battery range.
Also, Joe talked about how less people are going to dealerships to decide which car they want because they are researching and deciding on a car online. Today, people are mainly going to dealerships to test drive their cars to verify their choice instead of looking at the available options. To take advantage of this trend, Joe mentioned how Porsche introduced a “Build Your Porsche” section on Porsche’s website to allow customers the opportunity to fully customize their potential car and help with their purchasing decision. The company is also experimenting with more ways to sell their cars completely online on their website.
One of the biggest takeaways I had from the event was Joe talking about Porsche Digital, which is Porsche’s in-house digital team that identifies technology trends and takes advantage of these opportunities early. Also, the digital team is responsible for building the online car selling platform I mentioned above to allow people to buy their cars directly on Porsche’s website. This really showed me how Porsche has been able to adapt to the constant changes in the market and the new advances in technology.
Conclusion
Overall, I am very glad I decided to attend the Porsche guest speaker event at UGA and learned many interesting aspects about Porsche as a car brand and an IT company. This event really helped me understand how some of the topics we have been talking about in class (electric cars, AI, etc.) are applied to larger companies.
Citations:
Article: “Artificial Intelligence – A Key Technology for Drive Development.” Artificial Intelligence – a Key Technology for Drive Development, 11 Mar. 2021, https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2021/innovation/porsche-drive-development-key-technology-artificial-intelligence-26288.html.
Porsche Taycan Picture: “Porsche Taycan – Porsche AG.” Porsche AG – Dr. Ing. H.c. F. Porsche AG, https://www.porsche.com/international/models/taycan/taycan-models/taycan/.
Porsche Cars North America Picture: Mihalascu, Dan. “Porsche Cars North America’s New $100 Million HQ Also Has a Circuit.” Carscoops, 18 Jan. 2018, https://www.carscoops.com/2015/05/porsche-cars-north-americas-new-100/.
Hey Spener! I’m glad someone I know went to this event because I couldn’t have made it! This is an amazing topic to talk about, because porchse is also my favorite car brand (they also make the best track cars). I always wondered, out of everywhere, why porsche would have their headquarters right here in Atlanta but after reading your post, it makes sense now! Also, I love how porsche was on the “AI wave” 2 years ago before it started becoming mainstream in a way; that was a smart move by them by using AI to help with their car productions.
Hey Spencer, I’m glad that you used this as your topic because of how relatable it is and showcases how the market is influenced. For example, companies began to see the success of Tesla so they also took the initiative to develop their own version of EV cars. Another great point is that trying to combine the EV and classic feel must be difficult for Porsche, I can only imagine the problems that arise in the factories due to this. After today, I will start to research more about how Porsche is executing this plan with their future car models.
Hi Spencer. I am sad that I missed this event, but I am glad that you were able to provide a recap for us. I think it is really cool that a company as large as Porsche has their North America Headquarters in Atlanta. In addition, I wrote my article this week about AI in accounting. I think it is really cool that you also were able to talk about AI but for a completely different industry. It is amazing to see how many different industries AI will impact.
Hi Spencer! This was a great post to learn from. Now since there is so much accessibility to resources and information about the environment and renewable energy, it seems like there would be some type of pressure for other brands to adapt to that standard. I didn’t know how this would apply to luxury brands like Porsche since I feel like there would be a demand of them because of the hype surrounding them. Also, I think it’s interesting that you mentioned the AI that they will have for “oil foaming”. Sometimes, it can be an inconvenience for people to track the oil life that their car has because even after getting an oil change, the meter may or may not reset depending on the year and model and this can cause confusion. I’m looking forward to seeing what Porsche will release in the next few years.
Hey Spencer! This post was extremely informative. One point that I really related to within your post is how people are no longer going to dealerships to shop for cars, rather they are just going to test drive. I am the type of person that usually knows what I want before even going into any store, so the Build Your Porsche feature would be extremely beneficial for someone like me. It’s also cool to see how Porsche is using artificial intelligence to make their driving systems more sustainable and efficient.
I’m glad you found this even to be helpful. I did an article on Volvo’s connected car efforts a few years back, and it really does require a significant amount of rethinking the production and innovation processes in the entire company because of how it’s constructed. I think UGA is trying to play a bigger role in the EV industry, and I’ll be interested to see how it evolves.
Great post Spencer. It has been very interesting to see how other car companies have dealt with going electric and competing with Tesla. Porsche was smart for considering how to stay true to their brand but still adapt this new technology. They definitely have to think about introducing electric cars differently than other car brands because of their demographic. As you mentioned, a lot of Porsche enthusiasts did not want them to go electric because it would take away from the thrill of feeling like you’re in a race car. But, you also mentioned that after test driving the Taycan, it still felt like being in a Porsche. I don’t know much about cars, but I would love to own an electric car one day and after going to the Porsche headquarters a few years ago, I know they would be so fun to drive.
Hi Spencer, this event really was a great learning opportunity. I have never been interested in cars in the slightest, but Joe Lawrence explained Porsche’s strategies very well without going into too much detail about the cars themselves. The article you referenced about Porsche using AI gave me plenty of questions I’d love to have asked him during the event because it seems that Porsche is always a step ahead in the luxury car industry. My main takeaway from the event was also Porsche digital; we should definitely talk about this in class. Once again, nicely done!
Hey Spencer! This was a great blog post! I thought it was cool to see that Porsche is using artificial intelligence to optimize their driving systems by assisting in the prediction of oil foaming and reading the battery state analysis. I see why they would want to do this because they probably want tot to optimize their engine and overall driving experience for their customers. If they manage to nail this, I might have to buy a Porsche myself
Hey Spencer! This was a really great blog post. I wasn’t able to go the event, so it is very helpful to be able to hear what happened from another student. One thing that really stood out to me is that there was a bit of pushback when initial thoughts about going electric and using AI came out. Porsche definitely has a core demographic that it caters towards. This really forced them to think critically about their rollout plan, and to be fair it definitely worked out. They got me on board too!