Porsche has decided to test how much people will pay for a luxury car with the launch of its Panamera Turbo S Executive.  Porsche management has given it a base price of $200,500. Porsche likely does not sell many of these cars, but the fact that it sells any at all demonstrates just how much people will sacrifice for a car which can be driven off the dealer’s lot.

The main reason that  Porsche can ask so much for any car is that the brand is greatly respected  America’s 0.1%. The German car brand has an amazing valuation of $7.2 billion according to Interbrand. That is not far below the brand value of Ford (NYSE: F), one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, at $10.9 billion.

The appeal of the Porsche brand, even at $200,000 a car, is enhanced by an element which buttresses brand–quality. In the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Initial Quality Study, the luxury car company led all brands with only 74 problems per 100 vehicles. The average problems per 100 vehicles across all car manufacturers was 116. The mighty Mercedes just avoided being average, posting a score of 115.

One of the reasons people pay a great deal for a car is extravagant features. In at least one case, the Porsche Panamera Turbo S Executive has something which is effectively useless. The vehicle can hit a speed of 192 miles per hour. However, it does have better back seats than most cars, which includes an entertainment system for bored riders.

READ MORE: 10 Cars Americans Don’t Want To Buy

Porsche management understands the Panamera Turbo S Executive is little more than a “halo” product, the way a $70,000 Corvette is for Chevy. Porsche sells a car for as “little” as $52,000, the entry price for the lowest end Boxster. However, the Boxter can reach a maximum speed of 164 miles per hour, which indicates that every Porsche has at least one useless feature.

So much for balancing a car of impractical price with another for the masses.

 

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