Development has been the driving focus of Porsche Middle East (PME), based in Dubai Airport Free Zone, this past year.

The Porsche subsidiary has wrapped up its inaugural year in the region boasting record sales and the implementation of a comprehensive, customer-driven operating strategy. Sales and technical training has also been given emphasis where employees of all Porsche distributors have participated in several workshops and active training.

Supporting the company's 11 regional distributors and their customers in each market has been the focus of all initiatives undertaken by Porsche Middle East in its first year of operation.

Porsche and its partners in each location opened five new showrooms over the course of the past year. Abu Dhabi, Al Khobar, Dubai, Jeddah and Qatar all boast new showrooms, with Bahrain, Kuwait and Riyadh scheduled to open new premises in the near future.

Over 390 new cars have been sold in the Middle East region from the Porsche Model Year 2000 range, marking an increase of 15 per cent compared with the previous model year. From the Model Year 2000, the Boxster range accounted for 40 per cent of all sales in the Middle East and the 911 range for 60 per cent.

Mark Bishop, managing director, Porsche Middle East, says Porsche is forecasting sales in the region for the Model Year 2001 to exceed 15 per cent over the 2000 figures. The arrival of the much-anticipated new 911 Turbo will contribute to the projected rise in sales.