November 6th

Porsche SUVs to Overtake Its Racers
Porsche AG is a german car company that is well known for their high end sports cars such as the Panamera.(shown below)

Porsche, owned by Volkswagen AG, usually sells brawny sports cars with a starting price of a $75,000 Cayenne, to the $100,000 911. Although some members of society would like to drive one of these cars, the starting price is just too high for the average car buyer. So, Porsche is coming out with a new car model, which is more like the SUV's that BMW and Audi sell, and it is called the Porsche Macan.

This vehicle's starting price is going to be around $40,000, which is approximately three quarters the price of the Cayenne. This model is also expected to be appealing to younger buyers, and it is believed to possibly be more appealing to female buyers. Although the price is quite a bit lower than the other porsche models out there, it still has a six-cylinder engine and a steeply sloped rear roof, like the other porsche models. It is going to be out in stores for sale in the U.S. sometime during the 2014 spring, and the company is aiming for world wide sales of 200,000 cars by 2018, which is forty percent more than the number of vehicles sold in 2012. Creating slightly cheaper cars such as cheaper SUV's is a common move for luxury car makers to make. Mercedes_Benz created the R-class, which was a car with three rows of seats, and was similar to a minivan. But, due to the unsuccessful sales, they ended the line in America. BMW also has a cheaper model called the AG-series, which is a small car whose sales were aimed for car buyers in Europe. Although its sales weren't as unsuccessful as the Mercedes R-class, the car sells for $500 a month in lease. Sometimes, these lower priced cars can make the car brands less exclusive, making the owners of the fancier model cars feel less special, because they are in an exclusive group of people who can afford to buy a fancy car. But, porsche salesmen don't really think that this is a problem, because it will interest more car buyers, which will increase sales, and make many of the buyers who have always wanted a porsche, happy.

At Louis Vuitton, Ghesquiere Takes Designer's Mantle

Louis Vuitton is a high end fashion company that owns many brands such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and others. Balenciaga, the company that Mr. Ghesquiere used to work for was a part of fashion brand Kering SA.The company LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) was very popular back in the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century as well. But, Louis Vuitton wants to bring back the popular luxury labels. So, they have made Mr. Ghesquiere, former Balenciaga designer, the creative director of woman's fashion. Mr. Ghesquiere now also has to keep the brand Marc Jacobs appeal to buyers, after Mr. Jacobs himself stepped down a month ago. Mr. Ghesquiere thinks of the brand Louis Vuitton, as the ultimate symbol of luxury, and he is also in charge of the main brand Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton is the main brand from which LVMH gets its sales, but the international brown and gold bags are constantly knocked off, and the brand is believed to be the most overrated brand in luxury. Now, Louis Vuitton's sales are falling, and people are not buying as many of their leather goods. At Balenciaga, Mr. Ghesquiere's job was controlling every aspect about the brand Balenciaga, but his job at Louis Vuitton will most likely not be as wide. Mr. Ghesquiere is now trying to be creative for Louis Vuitton, while being tangled in a lawsuit, because Balenciaga sued him. He was sued, because he breached a company contract, and criticized the company management in a magazine interview.