Porsche Centre opens in KL
KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur welcomed its first Porsche Centre in the shopping district of Bukit Bintang over the weekend.
The opening of the outlet was marked by the launch of the 911 Carrera GTS. It is the second centre after the one in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, under current Porsche franchise holder Sime Darby Auto Performance.
The showroom, just down the road from the JW Marriott hotel and the Pavilion shopping centre, comprises 545 square metres of floor space for new cars on the ground floor and 456 square metres for used cars on the upper floor.
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| The spanking new Porsche Centre in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, has separate levels for new cars and used aka pre-owned cars. |
Sime Darby Auto Performance has also started its used Porsche car operation in the country with trade-in programmes for customers to make their purchase of the next Porsche more convenient.
All pre-owned Porsche cars sold pass rigorous quality control checks, some of which include the stringent 111-point check. Any faults found during this check require rectification before the cars can qualify for a two-year Porsche Pre-Owned Car Warranty.
The centre will include an aftersales diagnostic centre, to be opened within three months, which will offer diagnostic and detailing services.
The 911 Carrera GTS is a natural crowd puller.
The Porsche Club Malaysia has also been allocated some office space and facilities in the Porsche Centre for them to hold functions and events.
According to Sime Darby Auto Performance chief executive officer Arnt Bayer, a Porche Centre will be set up in Penang within two to three years, to be followed by another one in Johor Baru. It is also looking at Sabah and Sarawak as potential markets at a later stage.
Some new models to be introduced in the coming weeks and months are the Boxster S Black Edition, the Cayman R and Panamera S Hybrid.
The RM900,000 Carrera GTS showcased at the Porsche Centre Bukit Bintang has a 3.8-litre engine producing 408hp and 420Nm of torque.
The increased output is not at the expense of fuel consumption, as Porsche claims it consumes about the same mount of fuel as the Carrera S.
The Carrera GTS has a six-speed manual transmission, and a seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) is optional.
In comparison with the Carrera S, top speed of the model with manual transmission rises by four km/h to 306 km/h. In general, acceleration from zero to 100 km/h improves by 0.1 seconds, and is 4.2 seconds for a GTS Coupé with PDK and a Sport Chrono Package Plus in Sport Plus mode.
Sime Darby took over the Porsche franchise from Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir's Jaseri Automotive Group Sdn Bhd in April last year.
