Porsche's electric Taycan outsells 911 in record 2021

Porsche’s pure electric Taycan outsold the 911 sports car in 2021, as the German brand posted the greatest sales in its history.

The company delivered 41,296 Taycans worldwide, compared with 38,464 deliveries of the 59-year-old icon, while Australian deliveries of the electric vehicle totalled 531 compared to the 911's 428.

The Taycan didn’t merely outsell the 911 because it had a bad year – that 911 total was a new high for the nameplate globally – but it appears more customers wanted the electric sports car.

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The Taycan benefited from entry-level, rear-wheel-drive versions going on sale, and the first full year of the Cross Turismo bodystyle, whereas the 911 is nearing the end of the first 992 wave (pre-facelift). But is this a sliding-doors moment regardless? 

It certainly looks that way. The Taycan is bringing new customers to the Porsche brand, as Porsche CEO Oliver Blume told CAR in 2020.

"They are first movers, very interested in sustainability, innovation and digitalisation," said Blume.

They are also younger than Porsche’s traditional customer base.

It’ll be fascinating to see if the Taycan continues its lead over the 911 in 2022, or whether it dips back as fresh rivals from Tesla, Mercedes, Lotus and BMW sway tech-loving EV adopters.

Macan the top seller – and going EV

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Taycan sales will give Porsche (and its VW group overlords) great reassurance as it embarks on the electrification of its portfolio. The company will become almost entirely electric this decade, with this year’s new Macan the next zero emissions model.

It’ll be sold alongside the existing combustion-engined model during a transition period. The Macan, with 88,362 sales, remained Porsche's top seller in 2021.

Porsche’s record deliveries totalled 301,915 units, up 11 per cent on 2020 (itself another high, at the risk of sounding like a stuck record). And that’s with some impact from the semiconductor shortage and Covid-19 disruption, says Detlev von Platen, the company’s sales chief.

Nearly 96,000 sales in China ensured Asia Pacific was the biggest region, followed by Europe which just edged out the Americas. Of Europe’s 86,160 units, some 40 per cent were plug-in vehicles. "The overall result is very promising and shows the strategy to further electrify our fleet is working and in line with demand and the preferences of our customers," said von Platen.

Porsche 2021 deliveries – Global

Porsche 2021 deliveries – Australia