Porsche is embroiled in a $300 million lawsuit with a major U.S. luxury car dealer as it struggles to readjust its pricing strategy following aggressive post-pandemic price hikes.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2022 by Florida dealer The Collection, alleges that Porsche of North America resorted to “heavy-handed” tactics and withheld vehicle assignments after refusing to build a standalone Porsche showroom.
German parent company Porsche AG has made several attempts to be exempted from the lawsuit as a foreign entity, but a Miami judge recently rejected the request, setting the stage for a trial next March, shortly after former McLaren boss Michael Reiters takes over as new CEO.
Porsche and its two subsidiaries denied claims that their actions violated Florida’s Dealer Franchise Law and caused sales of The Collection to go into a “death spiral,” as the dealership alleged in a Florida court filing.
But a lawsuit in one of the most important venues for the American luxury brand has shined an uncomfortable spotlight on Porsche’s relationship with America’s leading dealers. The move comes as German automakers face sluggish car sales in their core markets and the high costs of an ambitious electric vehicle policy shift.
“While this case certainly deals with relationships between dealers, distributors and manufacturers across the state of Florida, similar regulations are at issue in many parts of the country, so this case is relevant to the industry across the country,” said Sean Burstyn, founder of Burstyn Law in Miami and president of The Collection.
The luxury car landscape changed three years ago when The Collection filed a lawsuit against a Porsche subsidiary seeking $300 million in damages.
Like its rivals, Porsche has been able to raise prices aggressively to get out of the chip shortage caused by the coronavirus. That’s because pent-up demand for rare units meant vehicles were often pre-sold before being delivered to dealers.
In a trend some buyers are calling the “Ferrariization of Porsche,” the German automaker is trying to become an ultra-luxury brand like Ferrari by raising prices.
“Porsche came out of the pandemic with very strong price pressure and continued to drive up prices on everything,” said Scott Sherwood, an independent analyst for luxury car brands. “If you want to create loyalty and repeat customers, that’s not the way to do it.”
Price increases were also fueled by a lack of pricing discipline among dealers. Unlike Ferrari, where dealers are encouraged to sell at the manufacturer’s asking price, Porsche distributors were free to sell some vehicles well above the automaker’s asking price. This meant that retail prices varied widely between dealers.
The Collection said in its complaint that Porsche conducted “due diligence” against a dealer who charged significantly more than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a vehicle in May 2022.
Analysts say Porsche has sought to expand its influence over its U.S. sales network in recent years by encouraging dealers to open showrooms dedicated to the brand.
The collection, which also represents other brands such as Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin, was asked to invest tens of millions of dollars to build a facility that would sell only Porsche cars. This is a move aimed at enhancing the luxury experience of customers.
The Collection, one of the top dealers of Porsche vehicles in the United States for decades, has accused the German automaker of withholding sales of Porsche vehicles after refusing to build a facility, claiming such tactics may have been used to “eliminate” dealers so they could sell directly to consumers.
In a statement filed this month, Porsche denied the allegations and argued that The Collection had suffered from declining sales for nearly a decade.
The dealership said it would not have suffered any loss of profit had it “timely constructed a compliant Porsche dealership facility”, adding: “Despite nearly a decade of declining sales of new Porsche-branded cars, the Collection has made a conscious decision not to invest in a new Porsche-specific facility.”
Porsche Cars North America declined to comment on the pending court case. Regarding its pricing strategy, the company said all 204 franchised dealers in the U.S. are independently owned and operated.
It added that a 2025 study conducted in the US by consumer analytics firm JD Power placed Porsche at the top in terms of sales satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Arthur Kipferer of Beryls by AlixPartners said conflicts between manufacturers and dealers in the U.S. market are “inevitable.” He said the demands from brands are likely to face resistance from dealers interested in protecting their own profits.
The green light for the trial comes amid growing analyst criticism of Porsche’s efforts to copy Ferrari’s pricing policies. While the Italian automaker has managed to control vehicle sales totaling just 14,000 vehicles a year to create scarcity and pricing power, Porsche, with annual sales of more than 310,000 vehicles, has not had the same exclusivity.
The company is also under intense pressure to boost sales as it invests heavily in developing new electric cars, while halting production of petrol or hybrid successors to its best-selling Macan and Cayman models, a decision that backfired and cost Porsche billions of euros to back out.
Porsche needs American dealers more than ever, as car sales in the first nine months of this year were down 6% in North America, 25% in China and 16% in Germany.
Stefan Reindl, head of the German Automotive Industry Research Institute, said local U.S. dealerships were “essential” for Porsche to support sales performance “especially during periods of low demand.”
As Reiters tries to turn Porsche’s fortunes around, analysts have warned that the next CEO cannot afford to get involved in any more high-profile litigation in Florida.
A lawsuit would add to the complexities already created by President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on foreign cars. The company increased prices for new models in all regions and indicated to investors that additional price increases would be made in the coming months.
“When Mr. Reiters takes over, if he’s smart, he’ll quickly fix the problem and move on,” Sherwood said.
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