Stretching a Brand Beyond Its Limits: Porsche

While driving along, I spotted a Porsche SUV the other day.  I had heard that Porsche was making a sports utility vehicle, but I had never seen one before.  It matched my expectations:  a vehicle that was way out of character for a sports car brand. 

The Porsche 997 G3T (top) and the Porsche SUV.  Do you see the family resemblence?

I'm sure that the folks at Porsche had meetings in which they analyzed the SUV market and evaluated the generous margins that go along with manufacturing SUVs.  But apparently in those meetings, no strong voice spoke up to say "this just doesn't fit the Porsche brand." 

I obviously don't work for Porsche, but I imagine the brand is all wrapped up in images and fantasies about speed, youthful fantasy and testosterone.  I can't imagine that the brand fits well with a type of vehicle that is associated with taking the kids to soccer practice. 

Many car manufacturers want to have an SUV in their lineup exactly because they are profitable and desirable for a segment of their customers.  But for me, it's easier for brands like Mercedes and Volvo to include an SUV in the lineup (even though the fit isn't perfect) than for Porsche ... because Porsche doesn't have a brand that stands for anything as mundane as taking the kids to soccer practice.  To take this to an extreme ... do you think Rolls Royce should have an SUV in its lineup?  Hmmmm.  I doubt that would make sense.