Move Over, Turbos. Porsche CEO Says Tech Takes Priority in New Strategy
After decades of the automaker focusing on engineering, power, and luxury, North America CEO Kjell Gruner says providing digital products and upgrading interface are now the top task.
Steve Jobs trained consumers too well, says Kjell Gruner, the new president and chief executive officer of Porsche Cars North America Inc. And now car companies have a lot of catching up to do to match Apple Inc.’s standards for user interface.
“With their ecosystem and their seamless customer experience, they have shaped the customer expectation,” Gruner says of Apple. That has a direct impact on how people feel when they get into—or shop for—a piece of technology as big as a car. “We have to integrate [digital] with the physical experience because we are a very, very physical product. If you don’t have digital experiences, you are not on the radar screen. You’re irrelevant.”