The Big Boom
The real upswing of the company started in the autumn of 1953 with the liberalisation of automobile imports. Sales figures for the Beetle rose from 798 in 1952 to 2,675 units in 1953). Louise Piëch successfully organized a nationwide distribution network and also got the sale of Porsche sports cars on track. Within only one year the VW marque holding a market share of 25.1%, respectively with 5,218 passenger cars sold, rose to the position of market leader, never to lose it again after 1959.
With sales figures rising, also the Porsche Company grew. The area of retail trade for example - later to become Porsche Inter Auto (PIA) - emerged in 1950 and took more and more distinct contours in the sixties. Alpen-
strasse Salzburg was the first retail dealership followed over the years by Wiener Neustadt (managed by Ing. Ernst Piëch, eldest son of Louise Piëch), Zell am See, Kapfenberg, etc. To date the PIA consists of 56 retail dealerships spread all over Austria.
In 1956 the workshop opposite the central train station, next to the customer service building, the Porschehof I was opened, which later came to be nicknamed "the blue building". In 1962 the Porschehof II was built in the Fanny-von-Lehnert Strasse. The blue VW logo on the roof of that building signalled far and wide where VW had set up home in Salzburg.
It is also through motor sport activities that Porsche Salzburg drew people’s attention. The formula Vau sports cars caused a great stir at the end of the sixties and Porsche Salzburg scored a spectacular success with the Porsche 917, which won the first Le Mans victory for the Porsche brand. Years later, the Rallye Beetles were to cause a tremendous sensation and won the Elba Rallye.
With New Ideas on the Road to Success
By expanding the services around the car in the following years, the company initiated the development of today’s Porsche Holding. With the introduction of the car rental service in 1962 and the leasing business in 1966, Porsche started at an early stage to boost the service sector and to achieve new record sales for the already aging Beetle by creative advertising.
