Celebrating 25 years of Porsche Latin America, this episode features insights from José Carlos de Miel and Rodrigo Fonseca on the brand's growth and innovative projects. They discuss the launch of the 'Icons of Latin America' series, starting with the 911 GT3 Touring, and the unique cultural inspirations behind it. The conversation also touches on Porsche's strategic realignment in response to global market challenges, the future of electric vehicles, and the importance of experiential driving events in Latin America. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of Porsche's commitment to regional identity and performance.
In this episode we visit the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta to mark the 25th anniversary of Porsche Latin America. The conversation features Rodrigo Fonseca, Lead for Product, Pricing, and Strategy Planning at Porsche Latin America, who reflects on the brand’s first quarter-century in the region and the strategic milestones that shaped its growth.
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"We also use the chance to celebrate with the launch of a special series that we're calling icons of Latin America, that we have started with a very beautiful card, a 9-11 GT3 Touring as a code name like Ocelot, that we have announced recently."
It’s a special line of cars that Porsche is releasing to honor Latin America, with each car named after something important in the region.
A limited edition collection of Porsche cars celebrating Latin American culture, each model named after a local animal or symbol.
"And it was not only a local celebration, but I think the Carrera Panamericana is just one of the many examples that we have that really connects with the Porsche history."
The Carrera Panamericana was a famous race in Mexico that ran on public roads. Porsche named some of its cars after this race to honor it.
The Carrera Panamericana was a legendary Mexican road race held in the 1950s. It inspired Porsche’s naming of several models, including the 911 and Panamera.
Concept
battery transition
"So originally, Porsche has planned a certain level of bath transition. And we have talked about this over and over about the 80% target of bath sales by 2030."
Cars are moving from gasoline engines to electric motors that run on batteries. This change is called the battery transition.
The battery transition refers to shifting from internal combustion engines to electric powertrains, requiring new battery technologies and infrastructure.
"And now finally, some days ago, we just launched the Cayenne."
The Porsche Cayenne is a big, sporty SUV that can go fast and handle rough roads. It’s like a cross between a sports car and a family vehicle.
The Cayenne is Porsche’s mid‑size luxury SUV, introduced in 2002. It combines high performance with off‑road capability and has been offered in several powertrain options, including gasoline, diesel, hybrid, and fully electric variants.
"You can have a sport, utility vehicle, not losing performance..."
An SUV is a big car that can drive on roads and rough terrain, like a truck but with more seats and comfort.
An SUV blends features of passenger cars with off-road capabilities, offering higher ground clearance and larger cargo space while maintaining on-road comfort.
"This title, so to say, was originally to tie onto a VGT."
VGT is a special kind of turbo that can change its shape to give the engine better power at different speeds.
VGT stands for Variable Geometry Turbocharger, a type of turbo that adjusts its turbine geometry to improve performance across a wide range of engine speeds.
An electric car runs on batteries instead of gasoline, so it doesn’t give off exhaust fumes and can be cheaper to run.
An electric car (EV) is a vehicle powered entirely or partially by electricity stored in batteries, producing zero tailpipe emissions and often featuring regenerative braking.
"I mean, off road, because I'm an off roading guy, and I love over landing."
Overlanding means driving a vehicle over rough terrain for long trips, usually with camping gear so you can stay on the road for days.
Overlanding is a style of long‑distance off‑road travel that combines adventure, self‑sufficiency, and exploration. It often involves traveling in a vehicle equipped for camping and extended trips.
"You have to be in the car, right? That's what we like to call internally, the behind the wheel strategy."
It means you get to actually sit in the car and drive it, so you can feel how it handles instead of just talking about it.
The "behind the wheel strategy" refers to a hands‑on approach where customers experience driving a car directly, rather than just viewing it or reading about it.
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For today we're sitting here inside the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta with José Carlos de Miel from Miami. Hi, how you doing?
Rodrigo Fonseca from Porsche Latin America, right? Yeah, exactly. This is a little bit weird because we live in Miami. Eurofaces in Miami. You represent in the rest of Latin America except Brazil, where you're from.
There's a lot of different geographical, logistical aspects of it, but tell us a little bit about the operation which is celebrating 25 years next year. I think it is.
Well, actually, we're celebrating this year, 25 years in Porsche Latin America. It's been a long period. I think we're in a very good moment right now as we had the chance to discuss a little bit.
Our operations have been growing. We have now operations in 20 markets actively, and yeah, I think it's definitely a good moment.
We also use the chance to celebrate with the launch of a special series that we're calling icons of Latin America, that we have started with a very beautiful card, a 9-11 GT3 Touring as a code name like Ocelot, that we have announced recently.
So has been a very, very good year so far, definitely.
Carlos, you live in Miami where you're almost more Mexican than me, I'm from Mexico, so there's another different twist to the story.
I'm happy to be considered Mexican all the time, but I think it's a weird old. I mean, at the end, Miami is the capital of Latin America, right?
But going a little bit deeper on the Ocelot because I think you have something to do with that project that is icons of Latin America.
And I think it's a wonderful project. Tell us a little bit more about that. The name comes from the animal, right?
Ocelot in English.
Definitely. I think we have something absolutely unique in Latin America because it's one of the most colorful regions in the world.
We have a lot of local context, and we wanted to do something more. We have a very solid global special vehicle strategy.
But we wanted to do it even more local, more regional. And there's no better moment than using the 25-year celebration of PLA to get it started.
And that's what we thought. How can we better celebrate and pay some sort of tribute to the local context that we have in the region?
And this idea, well, we basically started working some time ago. And in combination with our importers that also love the project.
And we finally came up with this very unique concept starting or kicking off with Colombia, which was definitely one of the coolest ideas that we brought.
In this sense of landscapes, typical context, animal cultural aspects. So we wanted to basically celebrate all of that into a car.
And, well, I mean, I will always say it's one of the best looking cars because I have always been involved in the project.
It's your work.
But we were very positively surprised by the, I would say, perception globally.
I think that was a pretty strong communication from our side, from Porsche EG side as well globally.
And we're very, very happy to see the comments and the feedback that we are receiving not only from the markets, but also customers.
It's a good project. Keep tuned because there's more to come.
Come in, yeah.
Yeah, so it's just a start.
Just to do something about that.
It's going to be an animal to me.
All I can say is we're going to have more cars.
We don't have an official number in terms of how many units we're going to make.
This is like, it's very important that we are doing one of a kind for each market.
So there's not going to be a second also, that's very important to see.
Okay, okay, okay.
But we're going to have more markets coming.
So all I can say is you have to, you have to wait for the next, next chapters of this beautiful series.
I'm going to take a little hint from your jacket you're wearing because it's like a red flag of an Americana for Porsche.
It has been a participant in that for many, many years.
So maybe that's an idea, I don't know.
And that's like, that's the way it goes back in history because like,
I mean, a lot of people just associate Porsche with Europe or the number ring or anything.
But like, they were active in Latin America even before the business operations started, right?
Absolutely.
The context that we have in Latin America is super strong, especially when we connect to motorsport.
And I think we have been very, very blessed in a way to really have so much context and so many special models.
So if we look back to the past few years, I think we have celebrated the best way possible, our success in the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico.
And it was not only a local celebration, but I think the Carrera Panamericana is just one of the many examples that we have that really connects with the Porsche history.
It's not by coincidence that we have now the 9-11's been called Carrera.
It actually comes from there, right there.
The same applies to the Panamera name, so the Panamera is also a way to celebrate the success that we've had in the Carrera Panamericana.
So this is, of course, one of the examples we also have in South America, different examples of local context.
And in the end of the day, I think it's a, yeah, it's a rich region in terms of context.
And we're more than happy to make special cars out of it.
You have a lot of experience in Latin America too, you're from Spain, but you came to work to Mexico most about 25 years ago, more than 20 years ago.
So you've seen the passion in the region for Porsche, right, in every country.
I mean, I love the name icons of Latin America, that's great.
And all around, you can see the passion, but I consider yesterday Rodrigo gave us a lot of clarification about the future of Porsche.
And I think that's very interesting.
Could you tell us what is going to happen the next five years?
What is coming, and how is important not only for Latin America, but for all the markets in the US?
Yeah, generally, I think we had the chance to review a bit of what we are calling the strategic realignment.
I'm going to say you exactly in five years or more.
What do you know exactly?
And that's where you react just.
So this is, I think, a very important moment for us.
So we have a lot of context going on globally.
Some challenges, I would say, as we had the chance to go through, so the bit of the situation that we have in China with the luxury segment into a difficult moment, which impacts volumes in the end.
We have the situation of the United States with the tariffs impact that we had this year.
And finally, the bath transition.
So originally, Porsche has planned a certain level of bath transition.
And we have talked about this over and over about the 80% target of bath sales by 2030.
And right now, what we see as a trend is globally that the EV transition is not happening as fast as we initially thought.
And the best way for us to react, of course, is to adjust the planning.
So this is very important, and it must be clear.
It's not that the 80% is gone.
It can be achieved depending on market conditions, depending on the customers demand, because we're going to have the bath lineup for the future.
So what we're doing are some small adjustments in terms of launching new models, new platforms that will give the customers more flexibility.
So what we stand for is basically three powertrain strategies.
So in one hand, you have the combustion models that are very well established in their segments.
For example, the 9-11.
We have also a very successful strategy when it comes to hybrid models.
So the plug-in hybrid models.
And then finally, we have the bath strategy that we have initiated with the tie.
And then further came the mechanical electric.
And now finally, some days ago, we just launched the Cayenne.
So it's basically three ways to offer what the customers want.
And I think this fully connects with Porsche.
If we look back, not necessarily talking about EVs, but in general, Porsche has been a very unique brand because we have always offered rear-engine, front-engine, meat-engine, all-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, V6, V8-box-ranges.
So it's not one specific type of engine or a specific type of traction that defines the brand.
But really, this opportunity, this chance to give the customers what the DNA of the vehicle is.
So now having this three approaches to the powertrain is basically the best way to move forward.
So we're very... we have, of course, good expectations.
And you will see some nice cars definitely coming in the future.
Yeah, we're going to take a look at the Cayenne electric, which is like at the top of the end of the... of the trim can have over a thousand horsepower.
So that's like something really amazing.
And I remember when the first thing came out, I was like, oh my god, they're going to kill Porsche.
And obviously, it did really well, right?
Absolutely.
I think the Cayenne, if we look back to 2002 when we had launch of the first generation V1, it was, of course...
Controversial.
Controversial in the beginning, especially, we heard a lot of people saying this wouldn't succeed.
And what, in fact, happened.
And the history will tell us, of course, our tells us now is that the car was pretty successful when we basically saved the company pretty much, right?
And we basically created this new type of vehicle.
You can have a sport, utility vehicle, not losing performance.
And I think we have done this very well for the past few years with different models, including the Turbo GT that we had as well as a top performance model.
And now, finally, coming with the A4, that is introducing a lot of technology and transmitting all of that DNA that we have from the Cayenne to fully electric Cayenne.
And I think one of the best... it's the best start possible to now have the highest level of power into a production Porsche with the Cayenne Turbo.
This title, so to say, was originally to tie onto a VGT.
And now, finally, with over 1100 horsepower, that's what we have now in the Cayenne Turbo.
So it's a very special moment.
So it's like any other crisis in any other aspects of human life, really.
Like, you are just, and the best one will stay on the top, right?
Exactly.
So we had a little bit of experience here.
You know, the track is beautiful.
Yeah, but, like, very short, a little because, I mean, what's so?
You always want more.
So what's your favorite?
It was called today.
Yeah, let's call it today.
When we have that, I can't, the electric car, the Cayenne, and when off road, and all that, and then 9-11.
So what's your favorite?
I mean, off road, because I'm an off roading guy, and I love over landing.
And I think it was great, but how can you explain to people what it is this experience about?
And why they should do it.
And also, they can do it in Latin America now, because they can talk about that.
Because there's an accent in Mexico and one in Peru, I think, now.
So, yeah, this is a very good point.
So we have recently opened the Porsche Driving Center.
It says, lightly different concept that what we have here in Atlanta with the Porsche Experience Center,
which is a Porsche own structure.
But during the year, we have certain dates where customers can fully experience
the best of the performance in the track in Mexico.
And, of course, this is the, this is also very special for us at PLA,
because this is the first of its kind in Latin America.
So, customers from all over the region can experience that the same, or very similar as you had today, with different models.
And I think that's also something very special from the brand, because we can have great experience with SUVs,
we can have great experience with the sports cars, the sedans.
So, it's a very unique approach to Porsche.
And we focus a lot on this experiential side, because I think there's no better way to explain how dynamic or how a Porsche can actually be.
You have to be in the car, right? That's what we like to call internally, the behind the wheel strategy.
So, I think that's the best way to transmit all of what we see in the numbers to the customers understanding.
And in all the centers here, or all the experiences, you don't have to own a Porsche to come, right?
You can come as a regular, you can drive all the brands, but then you can do it here.
Absolutely, that's also, I think, one of the cool things that Porsche offers.
So, in one hand, if you don't own that specific car, you can definitely test it on the track.
We offer that. And at the same time, this we have all around the region.
You also have some other driving or track experience programs, where you can effectively come with your car, if you already own a Porsche, or you can just try anyone.
We have both opportunities. The programs are rolled out in the markets, and then customers can experience the full extent.
Let me add something to that because as a father of three, I think it's a great opportunity to bring your new drivers, your kids, to do an experience like that,
because we drive every day, and we don't train, for example, breaking.
And it's so important, and when you do it with a vehicle, with this technology, I mean, you are an engineer, right?
Yeah. If I know wrong, you know better than us, but the technology in those vehicles is crazy.
And it's not about screen or connectivity, it's about the engineering inside of the mechanics of the beer, transmission, everything.
It was great to have the ability to drive a vehicle on those conditions.
Absolutely. And I think in this, in this direction, it's impressive for me, but also what we hear from customers that every generation, every launch, we take things to the next level.
So when it comes to suspension, we always set great suspension, the best set up, and then we come and launch active ride, for example, for the Panamir Antichen, and we take it to the next level.
Now we're applying this for the Cayenne Turbo as well as an option.
It's always getting better and better. So every generation, I think, we take it to the next level in terms of breaking and chassis performance.
So it's very unique to see, and I think definitely we have now a complete lineup.
Again, many possibilities for customers, for those who like more of the hybrids, the combustion, or the EVs.
So you're going to have a great car in any possibility. And I think it would be great a Cayenne for you, right?
The electric. I would love it.
Thank you very much. And again, very interesting geographical setting for this conversation, and it's experience here in Atlanta.
With Porsche Latin America, with someone from Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Colombia.
Thank you for everything. I really appreciate it. I mean, you too, I'm sure.
The opportunity, and I hope to see you soon again, maybe somewhere in Latin America, I don't know.
Absolutely.
You tell us where.
Absolutely. Thanks, thanks a lot for the opportunity to share with you. It was a pleasure.
Thank you.
So, Jose Carlos, we're going to follow you on everything else.
We're going to, we're going to go to.
No, like you're going to come to my content.
Yeah, you're hungry.
We're going to follow you.
Yeah.
Let's go to a bunch.
We're going to buy a car with TV everywhere in Latin America through MSN.
And in general, MSN, in Spanish, MSN, and in English in US.
Well, thank you very much.
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