Porsche Q3 sales surge despite global economic crisis

German luxury carmaker Porsche outpaced previous records in sales, profits and revenue, and appears set for the best year in company history, German Press Agency (dpa) reported Thursday. In the first nine months of 2012, Porsche's operating profit surged to EUR 1.88 billion (USD 2.44 billion), which was EUR 350 million more than the German sports carmaker earned in the same period last year. Releasing its third quarter company figures today, Porsche said the rise was caused by a 20.2-percent increase in sales to over 103,000 vehicles, which was the first time the carmaker sold more than 100,000 units in the first nine months of any year. In addition, overall revenues jumped by over 28 percent to EUR 10.15 billion, the Stuttgart-based company, which is part of Germany's Volkswagen car group, said. In 2012, Porsche is faring particularly well in the world's emerging car markets. In Russia, sales jumped almost 70 percent to 2,628 cars, while demand in China rose 35.4 percent with 24,859 units sold to customers in the world's second biggest economy. However, the United States remained Porsche's biggest market with 24,982 sports cars sold there - a rise by 22.1 percent compared with the January through September period of 2011. Surprisingly, sales in crisis-hit Europe also increased by over 13 percent. In 2011, Porsche already set new company records in terms of profits, sales and revenues. Industry analysts said the luxury carmaker was definitely headed towards a new record year on the back of the brilliant figures it achieved in the first three quarters.