Porsche Listed a $148,000 Car for $18,000 By Mistake — Here's What Happened (No, They Didn't Cancel All of the Reservations). Hundreds of online reservations rolled in before the Germany-based carmaker realized the error.
By Amanda Breen
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It's a dream shared by many car aficionados: owning a luxury vehicle.
Some Porsche fans were ready to make it a reality when a Porsche AG dealership in China posted an online advertisement for the carmaker's latest Panamera — and mistakenly set the price at 124,000 yuan ($18,000) instead of 998,000 yuan ($148,000), Bloomberg reported.
Related: Things to Keep in Mind Before Renting a Luxury Car
Naturally, hundreds of reservation fees rolled in (roughly equivalent to $135) before Porsche acknowledged the dealership had committed "a serious mistake in the listed retail price."
In the first three quarters of 2022, Porsche delivered 221,512 vehicles to customers across the globe, a 2% increase year over year, according to a release from the Germany-based company, and China remains its largest single market.
But it's not the end of the road for all of the hopeful drivers who hit the "buy" button online.
Porsche told Bloomberg that they contacted the first person to make an online reservation and "negotiated an agreeable outcome" for the one vehicle the dealership had on hand. No further details were provided.
Related: Volvo's Design Team Has Reimagined the Luxury Car
Porsche got in touch with the other bidders to inform them of the blunder and apologize. A spokesperson told Bloomberg that those reservation fees would be refunded within 48 hours.
