When you’re in the business of fast cars and ultimate performance, it makes sense to double down on the ownership experience once you've joined the elite club.
But in the case of Porsche – where the point of entry starts from at least $130,000 – the German luxury marque is looking to connect like-minded fans and customers in Victoria with its new pop-up store in Chadstone – the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere.
Though it makes sense for fashion brands to populate the 230,442 m² space to accommodate retail buyers and their budgets, what’s a luxury car maker like Porsche doing there?
Well, one key brand executive said the newly launched ‘Porsche Now’ Chadstone store – which opens from November 1, 2025, and closes sometime in March 2026 – is a dedicated space to its clientele.
In an exclusive interview with Drive, Porsche Australia managing director and chief executive Daniel Schmollinger said the newly launched retail space strives to accommodate three key consumer demographics.
“First, there are our [car] customers, this [place] should be a home for them where they can feel like ‘okay, I’m here in Chadstone. I come home, I have a coffee, I feel like this is my clubhouse,” Schmollinger CEO told Drive.
A vast majority of Porsche's Victorian customers are located near the shopping centre, which makes the location ideal for the brand as it seeks to attract more general fans into its ecosystem.
While various carmakers continue to struggle to convince Australian drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles, Porsche remains immune to the weakening consumer demand for EVs, with the Macan electric SUV – the brand's most affordable model – spearheading the marque’s Australian sales this year.
For reference, Porsche has sold 1,933 Macan examples as of September 2025, close to quadrupling its second-best-selling model, the iconic 911 sports car (505).
Schmollinger said the Macan buyer profile is split between three key demographics.
“We see a lot of young new buyers, especially for the Macan electric. We see that 50 per cent of our new customers are coming from the current Macan [the petrol version],” the Porsche Australia CEO told Drive.
“Also, we see roughly 50 per cent coming from other brands, which for us is the sweet spot. We have a car [the Macan EV] that offers enough and is attractive for people coming from other brands to come into ours.”
Additionally, the key executive highlighted Australia’s affinity for SUVs as a distinguishing factor between the domestic market and other countries in its global portfolio.
“The passion for the brand is the same [with other countries]. The key differentiator is the love for SUVs; this is something very special in Australia,” Schollinger explained.
However, the love for the brand’s iconic and classic models is abundant in the land Down Under, with the Porsche CEO telling Drive, “What is also very special in Australia is the love for heritage and classic cars. [There’s] a big market here as well.”
While Schmollinger said the space is also for prospective clients interested in starting the buying process, crucially, the executive noted that the pop-up store also serves as an entryway for Porsche fans who aren’t in the tax bracket to purchase their models.
“The third very important [customer] group are the fans, those who share the passion for Porsche,” he explained.
“They might not be able to buy a car at this point in time, but they share the passion. Of course, all three individual customer categories are very important to us; we want everyone to be welcomed here and share the passion [for Porsche] and talk about the cars, talk about the lifestyle.”
Though spending upwards of $100,000 on a car is generally reserved for the wealthy elite, the German luxury marque is looking to its merchandise line to bridge the gap between its wealthy customer base – who own their cars and the general Porsche fanatic.
The Porsche Now store in Chadstone is full of accessories, ranging from the latest apparel, suitcases/bags, to sunglasses and even a fully customisable watch that customers can configure in-store.
“Merchandising and accessories are a very big and very important part of the business, because this is how [customers] engage with the brand even though you don’t drive it,” Schollinger told Drive.
“It’s important for us at every point of sale. So, you can see it in regular dealerships, you can see it at our pop-up events [like this one in Chadstone], it’s always a relevant topic for us, and we continue to develop different styles and different categories of our lifestyle [range].”
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
