Potential car buyers in China were left disappointed after an online advert for a luxury sports car turned out to be too good to be true. A Porsche dealership in the city of Yinchuan listed a brand new vehicle for just 124,000 yuan ($18,300, £15,000), a fraction of the Panamera’s starting price of $148,000. The promotion attracted hundreds of potential buyers, but a spokesperson for the German carmaker confirmed that the promotion contained a “serious mistake in the listed retail price.”
The dealership immediately took down the promotion and communicated with the first customer who made an online reservation, negotiating an agreeable outcome. The dealership also contacted every bidder individually and explained the situation, apologizing for the mistake.
The incorrect information was posted on January 30th and customers who paid the 911 yuan reservation fee were refunded by Porsche. The incident caused a stir on Chinese social media, with some users calling it irresponsible for the company not to honor the cut-price offer, while others saw it as a well-conducted promotional strategy.
One social media user claimed to have been the first to try to buy the car, but cancelled the order when informed of the real price, stating that it would have been wrong to take advantage of the mistake. Despite this hiccup, Porsche’s presence in China continues to grow, as the country is now Porsche’s largest single market globally, with sales totaling $6.2bn in the first six months of last year.
