Porsche AG currently has 700 dealerships globally but it plans to add 200 more by 2015, expanding its worldwide dealer network by almost 30%. In an interview with Automotive News Europe at the Shanghai auto show, sales and marketing boss Bernhard Maier said that the workers at the independent Porsche dealers would have to increase from 14,000 to about 20,000 employees. But while the number of dealerships worldwide is increasing, Porsche has different plans for the U.S., where the number of dealerships will drop from 200 to 190 by 2015.

Maier said that Porsche sold 97,000 units in 2010 but it is aiming to surpass 100,000 sales in 2011, according to Autonews. Sources inside Porsche said that global sales are expected to increase by a double-digit percentage figure to at least 107,000 units in 2011. The sources added that sales of the Panamera sedan have contributed to achieving this figure. Sales of this model are expected to increase to 24% to 28,000 units. Maier declined to confirm this but he said that the Panamera surpassed its expectations. In 2010, Porsche sold 22,600 units but this year, it seeks to raise this figure significantly due to new derivatives. Maier said that China will soon be Porsche’s largest market, as it is on track to exceed sales in the U.S. He said that in two to three years, Porsche’s markets in China and the U.S. will be “shoulder-to-shoulder” even with the U.S. recovering well. Maier revealed that its order intakes in the first quarter are 34% when compared to the same period last year. Last year, Porsche sold about 25,000 light vehicles in the U.S. while it had sold 15,000 in China.