Porsche's record year - Telegraph First, where Porsche once built sports cars and only sports cars, its range now includes an SUV (the Cayenne) and four-door executive car (the Panamera, below), as well as diesel and hybrid drivetrains. The Macan, a smaller SUV, will also be launched next October. Second, these models, the Cayenne in particular, have allowed Porsche to gain a strong market position in the US, as well as China, its second biggest market. In November alone Porsche sold almost 7,000 vehicles into these two markets (out of a total of nearly 13,000 units), representing growth of 71.4 per cent in the US and 63.4 per cent in China compared with the same month last year. Indeed, it sold more vehicles in November in the US than it managed in the whole of Europe. Aside from the quality of its products, Porsche's other strength is new model development and, in particular, how to maximise the potential of each model line, seemingly always having something new up its sleeve. "The fact that we have already surpassed the previous year's result in November is no reason for us to rest on our laurels," said Bernhard Maier, Member of the Porsche Executive Board Sales and Marketing. On the contrary, it is an incentive to deliver maximum performance in the next year - in spite of continued uncertainty in the marketplace, As an example of this approach, take the latest generation of its core sports car, the 911. First launched in the 1960s, it is only on its fourth all-new platform and yet has spawned countless models and special editions. The latest version has been on sale for a year and yet is only a short way into its product cycle. Where once there was just a two-plus-two coupé, there are now four-wheel-drive versions, turbos, track-honed GT3s and GT2s, and soft-top Cabriolets, all of which maintain the original car's rear-engined layout and basic styling. The company has also just refreshed its Boxster and Cayman (below) range of mid-engined sports cars, which are rated among the best in the world. However, these days there's a strong argument that 911s, Boxsters and Caymans, not to mention next year's 918 Spyder hybrid supercar - the kind of cars that were once at the heart of Porsche's success - are only viable because of the success of the Cayenne. It is for this reason that other luxury car manufacturers including Bentley and Jaguar are working on SUVs of their own. As the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money.