The Collection vs Porsche
The Collection is taking on Porsche. The high-end Gables car dealership on Bird Road is suing Porsche for $300 million, alleging that the German car manufacturer attempted to coerce it into building a standalone dealership by withholding inventory allocations. The pricy lawsuit deals primarily with the Florida Dealer Protection Act, which prohibits manufacturers from forcing dealerships into opening exclusive brand stores. The Collection claims that Porsche wanted it to build a location exclusively for their brand in either Kendall or Cutler Bay, which they refused to do on the grounds that these “remote, suburban locations” would have “relatively zero market for Porsches.”
In response, Porsche withheld inventory in the form of pool cars (vehicles designated for use by employees for work duties) from the dealership. Supposedly, this reticence could end up costing The Collection over $100 million in damages since the allocation of these vehicles is directly related to sales. Since the conflict began, the dealership has dropped down the list of American Porsche dealers from third in 2018 to 32nd as of June this year.
Porsche Cars North America COO Joe Lawrence, meanwhile, claims that this “death spiral,” as it is named in the lawsuit, is unrelated, and stems from the brand’s expansion in the U.S. and a nationwide decrease in sales. In a letter within the lawsuit documents, Lawrence also claimed that The Collection’s decision not to build a standalone Porsche location demonstrates its “unwillingness to meaningfully engage in best business practices and promote the Porsche brand.” He continues, “As a result, it should come as no surprise that we continue to withhold discretionary assignment of pool cars to The Collection.