St Petersburg Times

Photo by Natasha Danchenkova / SPT

Porsche opened its first Northwest showroom in the city last week. No longer do locals lusting after a chance to spend 97,000 euros on the brand new 911 Carrera model have to travel far to satisfy their desire for vehicular luxury.

The entering of a Porsche dealership comes as no surprise on the Russian luxury car market. Industry experts are already saying that domestic demand for ultra-luxury sports cars, which includes the Porsche models, is quickly growing and that by the end of 2005 Russia will become one of the top countries in the world in sales volume of such cars.

"The interest in sports cars is very high, especially among the business elite representatives, who lead an active lifestyle," said Porsche's Rusland subsidiary director Dimity Dubrovsky.

And the headliner of the Porsche showroom is the new 911 Carrera, rated even by the competition as one of the ultimate sports cars. "It's as a one hundred-percent sport car," said Alexei, a consultant at the city's Audi dealership RusAvto, who did not provide his surname.

He said that while the interest's been increasing in sports cars, it was not just the top business people, but especially the city's "golden youth" who make up the main customers, as they look to sports cars for excitement and prestige.

Sigma Sports, the dealership, which is going to be operating the new Porsche salon in the city, is part of the Sigma group that also includes Sigma Motors, the Volkswagen city dealer, and Sigma Service - the official Skoda dealer.

News source: times.spb.ru
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