The latest Porsches tempt car enthusiasts

“It’s a great time to be a Porsche dealer because almost all of our product is brand new,” says Mitchell Sherwood, the new owner and general manager of Porsche Fort Myers off Daniels Parkway near Interstate 75. Tall, blonde and impeccably dressed in a slim-fitting light blue suit, Sherwood looks as if he stepped out of a page from GQ magazine. One could say his personal style projects uniqueness, luxury and customization—a perfect match to the qualities of the brand he is selling.

“Porsche gives customers that feeling of uniqueness, luxury and customization, but they do it in a package that’s really high quality, built to last forever,” he says. “I think a lot of Porsche customers are drawn to the timeless styling. Porsche really hammers that point home. They are not the manufacturer that’s constantly revolutionizing. They’re more evolutionary,” Sherwood explains, referring to the 2019 and 2020 models on display in his showroom.

 Last year Porsche introduced the Macan, a compact SUV that is their most affordable vehicle. “It’s really the model that brings new customers into the fold and it starts at $50,900,” Sherwood says. Also in 2019, the Cayenne, a larger SUV with dynamic motorsports appeal, was completely redesigned.

Now in 2020 the spotlight is on their sports car. Porsche’s all-new 911. It’s been eight years since the last full redesign in 2012. “That’s the one [car] that everybody has been talking about and waiting for,” Sherwood points out.

Definitely at the top of the line, the 911 starts from $97,400, and although Porsche hasn’t announced all the top models yet, the highest-end 911 could cost $200,000 plus. Horsepower is really the name of the game when you’re going up in price. “You’re gaining amenities for sure, but you’re really buying horsepower. So just the difference between their standard car and what you would call their “S” car, it’s going to be mostly horsepower,” Sherwood explains. The standard 911’s horsepower is 379 horsepower; the “S” model gets you up to 443 horsepower.

The speed factor is a big part of the equation with Porsche. The Turbo, for example, is one of their top models. It does 0-60 (a very common measuring stick for sports cars) in under 3 seconds. It’s among the fastest in the industry with top speeds over 200 miles per hour. According to Sherwood, there are people who buy Porsches for their performance and these cars compete at the highest level with Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren.

 Besides the adrenaline rush customers get from a Porsche, there’s the glamour factor. When it comes to selecting the color, Sherwood says, “Surprisingly South Florida, I think, is actually a little more color friendly. So one of the brand-new colors, what they would call a launch color, is Gentian Blue (left photos). It’s not like a royal blue, more like royal and navy. It’s really, really pretty and it’s been a very popular color so far.”

At the end of 2019 Porsche introduced their first all-electric car, which is a totally different direction for the car manufacturer. Sherwood explains that there’s the traditional buyer who wants to be out at the racetrack and loves that he has the performance of 0-60 acceleration and cornering grip, but now Porsche is introducing its all-electric car that will appeal to a different client base.

“There are a lot of eco-friendly environmentally informed clients who are looking for alternatives to a gas motor, and Porsche will finally have an offering for them,” says Sherwood. “It’s called Taycan and it will be the highest performance all-electric car ever built in mass production.”

Porsche plans to put at least one Taycan in the showroom of every dealer. The top model will have a 0-60 of 2.6 seconds, and it will perform with the top 911 models—but do it with an all-electric power plan. The Taycan starts from $103,800.

To showcase all the new models, Sherwood is expanding his showroom—and service center in 2020. For a young man who started selling cars while in college, Sherwood has moved from selling Volkswagens to Audis to Porsches. He managed to blend his love of the automobile industry and sales talent with his passion for cars. When the opportunity to buy the Fort Myers dealership presented itself, he was ready. “I felt like this was the right fit,” says Sherwood who took over in July 2019. “It’s an exciting time to be a Porsche dealer.”