Many of us, a great many, would like to drive a Porsche as our everyday car, but the trouble is deciding which one. After all, some days you want the sheer power and performance of a 911, the next you want the ability of the Panamera e-Hybrid to slink into town on electric power, and then the day after that you want a Cayenne because little Tiffany wants to go horse riding. Ah, the agony of first-world problems.
Well, now Porsche has a first-world solution; don't buy, subscribe. The Stuttgart manufacturer has launched Porsche Passport, a service where you pay a monthly fee and you can pick and choose, day-to-day, from 22 models which will be delivered to your door. The Passport is getting a trial launch in Atlanta, Georgia in the US (helpfully, it's the same city where Porsche's partner on the project, Clutch Technologies, is based).
"Our Strategy 2025 vision is to be the most aspirational brand in a new era of mobility and consumer expectations. Catering to customers' desire to experience our sports cars in new ways is a part of our core strategy," said Klaus Zellmer of, chief executive officer of Porsche Cars North America. "With Porsche Passport, we now offer our customers a simple and flexible driving solution at their fingertips."
So, how does it work? Well, to sign up, you pay a fee of $500 (€423), and then choose from two monthly payments. A “Launch” package, at $2,000 per month, gets you the choice of a 718 Boxster S or 718 Cayman S, a Macan S, or a Cayenne.
An “Accelerate” package, for $3,000 per month, gets you all of those, plus the good stuff – Porsche 911 Carrera S, the Panamera 4S sports sedan, the Macan GTS and Cayenne S E-Hybrid, among others.
There's a Porsche Passport app to download for your phone, which allows you to schedule and request cars, and they're dropped to you and collected again by Clutch Technologies staff. The fee covers all the registration and tax costs for the cars, plus insurance, maintenance, and keeping them clean. "Porsche Passport will provide increased choice and flexibility for new target groups in the Atlanta market," said Vince Zappa, president of Clutch Technologies. "Clutch is proud to be the enabling technology behind the service."
So, what does this all mean, apart from being possibly the best and most extravagant Christmas present for which to ask (a return flight to Atlanta costs around €400 if you're wondering)? Well, it's all part of the much-hyped move of car makers from just producing cars to becoming "mobility" companies. The idea is that because, in the future, electric cars may not be able to fulfil all needs, you'll want to have access to other vehicles for longer trips, weekend leisure activities, etc. In many ways, it's just an extension of the current fashion for PCP plans – just keep paying the monthlies and have whatever you fancy. Other car makers, notably Peugeot and BMW, have carried out similar trials on similar products but Porsche doing so looks like a big step, not just because of the sheer desirability of the brand, but because it's such an important cog in the VW empire these days.
Would it work in Ireland? Maybe. But we have to get over our ownership obsession first.
