Porsche set a lot of sales records in 2021. But the most significant of the bunch comes as a sign of the times – its new electric car outsold the car you think of when you hear the name Porsche.
The global auto industry had a rough 2021. A worldwide microchip shortage left automakers unable to build cars fast enough to meet demand. That pushed prices to record highs. The average new car sold for $47,077 by the end of the year. Americans bought fewer than 15 million cars when, pre-pandemic, we had bought more than 17 million most years.
But Porsche managed to set new records for itself, anyway. It sold more than 300,000 cars worldwide and more than 70,000 in the U.S. That second figure beat the company’s previous record by more than 14%.
And, for the first time, Porsche’s Taycan electric car outsold its iconic 911 sports car. The company reported more than 41,000 Taycan sales worldwide, against about 38,500 911 sales.
Bill Nye the Science Guy probably helped sell a few.
But 911 sales aren’t slipping. Porsche sold more last year than ever before. Still, more buyers found their way into a Taycan.
Many automakers have announced plans to move to an all-electric lineup by the end of the decade. Porsche has made clear that it won’t quite follow them into that. “The 911 is our icon, and we will continue to build it with combustion engines; that is very clear,” chairman Oliver Blume told reporters last March.
But the company does expect most of its sales to be electric by 2030 and has pledged to make its operations carbon-neutral by that date.
