In Porsche’s »Exclusive Manufaktur«, perfect craftsmanship and state-of-the-art technology come together to turn individual, often quite extravagant customer wishes into reality. However, the fact that the focus is not so much on achieving a unique result, the delivery of a one-off vehicle, but rather on the diverse and above all intensely creative process, was just one of the exciting findings of our visit to the creative center in Zuffenhausen.
Alexander Fabig, Vice President Individualisation and Classic at Porsche, shows us around the impressive premises of the Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. “Our customers come with a vision,” he explains as we walk past a Panamera Turbo whose specially created “Leblon Violet Metallic” color has been finished with a clear coat containing gold-vaporized flakes. “We help them turn this vision into reality.”
Panamera Turbo – Porsche Sonderwunsch, 2023
And Porsche is happy to take plenty of time for this. Time for an intensive exchange and a thoroughly emotional collaboration with the customer. It is a dialogical process, emphasizes Fabig: “We work closely with our customers to ensure that each of their ideas is implemented perfectly.” This co-creation approach of deeply involving customers in the creative process also reflects the essential element of a new concept of luxury. Away from the mere possession of luxury goods, towards unique experiences and truly customized exclusivity. The focus is less on the finished product and more on the creative path to it. “Luxury is no longer just about owning something special, it’s about creating something special,” explains Alexander Fabig. “That’s why our customers are part of the entire process – from the initial idea to the finished sports car.”
Taycan Turbo S Celestial Jade – Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, 2024
Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (special request) program has actually existed since the late 1970s and is now experiencing a renaissance, not least due to the transformation of the concept of luxury. From the initial discussion based on a basic idea to the completion of a Sonderwunsch Werksunikat, as the highest form of individualization, this process can take several years and is basically divided into three phases: It starts with the customer’s idea, the basic technical feasibility of which is checked by Porsche. The spectrum of possible wishes ranges from individualized detailed components in the vehicle interior to striking changes to the vehicle body. After a positive feasibility check, Porsche finally invites the customer to a project meeting where, in cooperation with designers and experts from a wide range of fields, a so-called “specification sheet” is created in which the project is analyzed from all sides and a detailed implementation is worked out. Depending on the degree of customization, this is an extremely complex process that can take up to a year and cost a six-figure sum, depending on the scope. In the third phase, the desired components are finally developed and the individual dream car is manufactured, naturally in strict compliance with Porsche quality standards. Depending on the age of the vehicle, the technical experts at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur or Porsche Classic are on hand to professionally implement the customer’s sometimes unusual visions.
Our conversation with Alexander Fabig, who gave us exciting insights into the work process and the almost unlimited possibilities of customization, also shows that the (long) journey is in some ways the goal of the Porsche Sonderwunsch program.
Chapter The customer journey seems to be a very essential part of the Sonderwunsch program as it is about more than just the question of how quickly a vehicle can be completed. So how important is this phase of intensive exchange to you personally, where perhaps some things work and others less so?
Alexander Fabig That’s right. That customer experience, that shared journey towards it, is actually the dominant element. Occasionally, when a project is completed, a certain melancholy sets in for everyone involved, because many projects extend over a long period of time and are based on very intensive collaboration, in which emotional relationships also develop between people. The ideal situation is that a strong team spirit develops during this process. The customer is no longer just a customer, he becomes part of a team and leads his own project. For example, if you were to observe some of our so-called “milestone meetings”, where we meet with the customer here on site and bring the respective project team together, as an observer you would probably not be able to identify who is the customer and who is the project manager. And we actually put together an organization chart for each customer project, in which the customer really is the project manager and our Porsche colleagues are listed as a team underneath. And that, of course, is also part of this extraordinary experience – a really special and intensive time that we experience together. The aim is to enable maximum integration for the customer. “As close as possible” is our guiding principle.
911 Turbo S – Porsche Sonderwunsch, 2024
Chapter Against the backdrop of the experience you have described, how do you assess the current changes in the understanding of luxury, in luxury needs and the new business models based on them, which attach an increasingly important role to individualization in particular? Is it fair to say that true luxury is no longer “off the peg”, so to speak?
Alexander Fabig We can absolutely confirm this trend. In our view, the trend is clearly moving away from simply buying “off the shelf” towards creating or designing something yourself. And of course we are also trying to meet this increasing demand, both with our catalog offerings from the Exclusive Manufacture Options range and, of course, with Sonderwunsch. So on the one hand, we offer customers a starting point, but on the other hand, we also offer them the opportunity to become active designers themselves in a wide variety of ways. In the first stage of the Exclusive Manufaktur options, for example, we have an offer called Personalize, where the customer can already personalize scopes using texts or images that they can upload or enter in the configurator. That would be the first level of expansion, so to speak – and the highest level of expansion is the Sonderwunsch Werksunikat. I am convinced that the real luxury, the luxury key figure behind it, is actually time.
Time that our customers can or want to devote to this topic. That’s the luxury I allow myself: For example, I am now taking three years to realize a one-off with Porsche. At the customer’s request, this includes regular visits to the Porsche sites in Zuffenhausen and Weissach.
These are time-consuming and sometimes exhausting appointments, during which we work with the customer on their one-offs.
911 GT3 RS, Tribute to Jo Siffert, Porsche Sonderwunsch, 2024
Chapter Where do you actually set the limits of individualization at Porsche, at what point do you say “that’s going too far”? For example, when the design language of a current model, as actually defined by Chief Designer Michael Maurer, would be modified too drastically?
Alexander Fabig Michael Mauer actually looks at every unique piece; he personally is the highest authority, so to speak, who approves projects at the end. The customer is part of the project team in the form of a project manager – but Michael Mauer is and remains the head of design who ultimately decides on approval. The limits you mentioned are usually present in two places: One is the function – the Sonderwunsch Unikate are subject to the same standards of technical perfection and safety that we set as the benchmark for our series vehicles. In addition the limits in the area of Legal requirements, typifications, that goes without saying. When it comes to design aspects, the limits are actually very broad, but we would cross them, for example, if non-brand elements were to be transferred. So – as a fictitious example – if a customer wants a Testarossa wing on a 911. But in all the projects and inquiries we have received so far, we have never had any requests of this kind.
Chapter Because customers want a Porsche after all, despite all their individualization wishes…
Alexander Fabig That’s exactly right – the customer could also turn to the open market and is sure to find someone to fit a Testarossa wing to a 911. However, the customer deliberately turns to us because he wants to realize his dream sports car together with Porsche. According to our credo “You dream it, we build it”. We don’t see ourselves as a contract manufacturer for a customer’s design concept, but rather our customers want to consciously immerse themselves in the Porsche brand world and implement a project with our design philosophy. That’s why our projects to date have been very, very personal, individual and special in many aspects and details, but these are not completely unusual approaches that intervene extensively in our design language. And of course, the fact that all our customers are long-standing Porsche enthusiasts with strong ties to the brand also fits in with this. You wisha genuine Porsche to which they lend their own signature. So it’s primarily about details, for example about lines, about aspects of line management – do we make an angle a little more acute or a little softer, do we make a contour more right-angled or rounder, where does a bead run out… But that doesn’t mean that we won’t also take on larger changes – but this hasn’t been addressed to us yet.
Chapter From major changes to very small details: what is Porsche’s attitude to the integration of non-brand elements? For example, if a customer wants a certain luxury watch to be integrated into the dashboard…
Alexander Fabig We are very open to this as part of an individual customer project. Of course, there are also external brands that we like to work with in series production. Of course, we check in detail which themes and brands ultimately harmonize.
Chapter If you look back on previous Sonderwunsch projects, can you give us an example that was particularly challenging to implement?
Alexander Fabig Challenging was actually the realization of the Taycan that we built for the Chinese artist Ding Yi. Ding Yi is an internationally renowned artist who creates huge murals in many variations and colors of dense cross structures. And his idea was to merge one of his paintings into this Taycan, so to speak. Both in the exterior, in the paintwork and on individual interior components. This was by far the most elaborate paint job we have ever done, also because it was a really demanding hand-painted job. Of course, an artist like Ding Yi has very high expectations of our team’s realization of his vision, also because the result becomes part of his artistic creation. This was indeed a very challenging project, the technical and technical implementation of which ultimately allowed us to further expand our own skills.
Taycan Turbo S Porsche Sonderwunsch 2023 for the artist Ding Yi
Chapter With all the insights into your work that I have been able to gain here, I assume that personality traits such as patience and empathy are essential for your work in the area of Sonderwunsch, in addition to a wide range of technical expertise. After all, customization is less about building the perfect or the most beautiful car and more about making the customer happy.
Can you put it that way?
Alexander Fabig Definitely, because at Sonderwunsch we don’t try to create the “perfect Porsche” or the “most beautiful Porsche”, but we work for and with individualists. For this reason, the discussion about taste or perhaps the question “Could we sell it like this?” is inevitable. It’s all about creating the perfect Porsche for the respective customer. And yes, when Michael Mauer designs and configures a Porsche model, it is of course “absolute” in a certain sense: this is what a “perfect Porsche” looks like. But here at Exclusive Manufaktur, only one person has to like it – the customer placing the order. It is important to distinguish here between questions of taste and a fit with the brand: When it comes to taste, the customer decides. If we think that a concept doesn’t work for the brand, we veto it.
Porsche 911 Speedster Sonderwunsch 2024 for designer Luca Trazzi
Chapter Finally, I would like to know what impact your work has had on you personally. Has the constant, intensive examination of customization options influenced your perception or your definition of beauty in automotive design – one might think that classic “off-the-peg” Porsches have lost some of their appeal for you?
Alexander Fabig The biggest influence on me – not just in the automotive context – was that it massively strengthened my fundamental openness, my liberal attitude. Because in a certain sense, you break down any reservations with every topic. By working closely with our customers, you also gain an enormous amount of insight into the very personal story behind a project – there is something hidden behind all these supposedly unusual or obscure custom-made products, there is often a very personal thought behind them. And if you know that thought, then everything suddenly makes perfect sense – whether you like it is of course something completely different. So all of this has simply established a very liberal attitude in me: Everything is beautiful, it’s in the eye of the beholder and doesn’t have to please everyone. Even a Sonderwunsch Unikat only has to please the person who created it for themselves.
Chapter But do you perceive a classic series model more like an initial product, perhaps like a sculptor the raw material that is only the unfinished basis of his work?
Alexander Fabig Yes, of course it’s a bit like that, the “movie” definitely starts for me. Not in the sense that sitting in a production car would be an insult to the mind and soul, of course, but of course the possibilities immediately start rattling around in my mind’s eye: Seams, colors and themed pleats… And of course the ideas also bubble up at the start of every new project when you look into the product substance. Of course, our individual experience in the area of Sonderwunsch provides us with plenty of inspiration for new ideas and a wide range of possibilities. [CS]
