PORSCHE: desirable product Advanced level: Unit objectives In this unit: • Grammar: Countable and uncountable nouns Functional Vocabulary: Scale of likelihood • • Listening Exercises: Porsche’s success Cultural Awareness Point: Speeding • • Pronunciation: Vowel sounds /ai/ or /ei/ Reading: Porsche company history • • Role Play: Meeting to discuss a new model / market www.ibeschool.com Introduction: Discuss these questions: • Which other car companies does Porsche compete with in the market? • Why buy a Porsche? Listening exercise 1: Listen to a spokesperson, talk about the Porsche company. Answer the questions below. NOTE: The questions are not in chronological order 1. Who owns a majority share in Porsche? 2. What does the 9 11 mo del d efine? 3. Which other car companies does Porsch e compete with in the market? 4. Are most of Porsche’s cars produced in Eastern Europe and the Far East? 5. What is the company slogan? 6. When was Porsche founded? 7. Is Porsche the most profitable car compa ny in the world? Pronunciation practice: vowel sounds - /ai/ or /ei/ Practice saying these words and put them into the correct vowel sound box CHILD - PINT - SAILOR - EYE - SPACE - CAKE - WEIGHT - DECIDE - POLITE - WAVE - RAIN - QUITE - FREIGHT - GREY - SHY - AISLE - ICE - FAIL – HEIGHT – SHEIK – AIR – NIGHT - IDEA /ai/ CHILD /ei/ SAILOR www.ibeschool.com Question: Do you get a lot of information or informations from the car company? Grammar review: Countable and uncountable nouns Nouns in English are either countable or uncountable, and often mistakes are made with some of the irregular ones. 1. Countable Nouns: • These can be used in plural, take determiners such as: many, these, those, a lot, a few • They are used with one/ones e.g. many managers are well paid - A lot of cars were sold last year but these ones weren’t. 2. Countable nouns include many concrete nouns i.e. • The names of individual things (a factory, a computer) • Units of measurements (a kilo, a metre) • Individual parts of a mass (a piece of advice, a news item, a piece of furniture) 3. Uncountable Nouns • Do not take ‘the’ when used in a general sense – time is money • Have words like much, little before them – we are not making much profit 4. Uncountable nouns include: • Many abstract nouns (hope, importance) • Substances (water, gold, petrol) Some of the more common uncountable nouns are: Behaviour Advice Accommodation Advertising Publicity Equipment Research Transport Luggage Information Staff Evidence News Furniture Damage Work Exercise: Choose the correct word in italics. 1. They gave us plenty of advices/advice on how to deal with him. 2. They have a new/ a news item about the promotion 3. There was a lot of damages/damage to the airplane. 4. I have two suitcase/suitcases to check in. 5. Porsche did a lot of research/researches into the market. 6. We have a lot of hopes/hope for the new plan 7. Plenty of publicity is/are very important for Porsche 8. We need some furniture/furnitures for the office. 9. Here is/are some evidence/evidences to look at. 10. A lot of executive/executives work hard. www.ibeschool.com Reading: The man behind Porsche’s success Exercise: Put a correct noun into the gaps (two are not needed) and explain the underlined words. damage - advice - image – news - evidence - publicity – information - equipment The amazing success of Porsche in recent years is down to Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking. The in 2007 is that it has sales of more than $10 billion, with profits exceeding $1 billion. He is now the highest paid executive in Germany, earning an estimated $90 million year. Wiedeking’s passion for cars came from his grandmother. “She gave me the pocket money to buy toy cars when I was a boy, and a lot of good when I was growing up,” he said. In addition, other events shaped his life. When he was 15 his father died, and Wiedeking learnt very quickly to set clear goals in life and concentrate on achieving them. “I realised what ambition meant and how I could achieve my dreams. I also learnt that if you want something, you must take risks, show initiative and work hard. And that is exactly what I strive to do,” he said. Wiedeking was employed by Porsche when the company was in serious trouble. It had been losing money since 1988 and was on the verge of bankruptcy. The Porsche family needed someone to rescue the business, and fast. Wiedeking was the right man at the right time. He had vision. By 1993 Porsche was producing fewer than 15,000 cars a year and making huge losses. During the 1980s Porsche had become a national joke in Germany as the sports car favoured by men who wore a lot of gold, or were having a middle-life crisis, and the company was low. “Nothing was working, not a single department,” said Wiedeking. As cars rolled off the production line, quality controllers were sending them back to have faults corrected. “We had to improve and do it quickly or the would be irreparable. We were going under,” he added. Within a year Porsche was back in profit and climbing steadily. Between 1994 and 2004 profits rose from $2 million to $3 billion, and with a re-branding we enjoyed a lot of good . Wiedeking is known around the world as a man who knows the automobile industry inside out, and the for this is clear. However, many ordinary Germans admire Wiedeking because they see him as a defender of Germany’s industrial heritage. www.ibeschool.com Cultural Awareness Point: Speeding In the UK driving speeds are carefully controlled and the public normally respect the law. Speed limits are enforced using cameras, and anyone caught speeding (even by a little) is punished with a fine and points on their license. Many people think this is necessary, but others think it is too strict and a way of making money. Speaking practice: • Does your culture/nationality enforce speeding limits? • Do you think drivers should be punished for speeding? How? Functional vocabulary: Scale of likelihood This is used in business to express certainty and possibility. For example: I can’t possibly lower the price of the 911 to below $55,000 Form: Certainty I am (absolutely) sure that … fuel prices will increase certain that … fuel prices will increase positive that … fuel prices will increase Fuel prices are certain to increase bound to increase sure to increase Probability It is very likely that fuel prices will increase It is highly probable that fuel prices will increase Fuel prices should increase Possibility Fuel prices may increase Fuel prices might well increase Fuel prices could increase Improbability It is highly unlikely that fuel prices will increase It is highly improbable that fuel prices will increase Impossibility I am (absolutely) sure that fuel prices won’t increase I am convinced that fuel prices won’t increase Note: The word ‘odds’ means probability. E.g. it is odds on that fares will go down. The odds are against it happening. www.ibeschool.com Exercise: Choose the correct phrase from the Scale of Likelihood exercise for each gap. In some cases more than one option is possible. 1. Porsche is having an excellent year. Company profits are go up. 2. I am that import tax will remain the same. 3. It is unclear at the moment but due to the lawsuit it is we will survive. 4. The company open franchises in Turkey, but it all depends on the cost. 5. The of that happening are extremely slim. 6. Fuel prices fall next year, but we buy ours three years in advance. 7. It is that he will take the job. 8. With these prices the order book be full. Listening exercise 2: Listen and answer the questions below. Note: The questions are not in chronological order 1. How many marques does Porsche control? Give examples. 2. Has the company always been successful? 3. How much money did Porsche invest in Volkswagen? 4. According to the president, what is the company’s aim? 5. Is Porsche the biggest automotive business in the world? 6. What makes the Porsche business model so successful? 7. What is the future plan for the company ? Role-Play Split the students into two teams. Case study: Porsche’s CEO and Design Team want a new model aimed at the eco- friendly driver. CEO: you want to create a car that is a hybrid (petrol and electric powered) – similar to Toyota’s Prius He sees the success of the Prius as a strong indication of the future market. Designers: think of an alternative e.g. bio-fuel car, completely electric car. Both teams should prepare a presentation and be ready to argue for your ideas. www.ibeschool.com Audio script 1 – Porsche adv Porsche AG was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, an engineer, who was born in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic), and who also designed the first Volkswagen. The headquarters are in Stuttgart, Germany and the CEO and President is Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking. Porsche employs over 12,000 workers and the company revenue in 2006 was $15 billion, up from $13 billion in 2005. The company is majority owned by the Austrian Porsche and Piëch families. As a company, Porsche is known for weathering changing market conditions with great financial stability. It retains the majority of its production in Germany in a time when most other German car manufacturers are moving their factories to Eastern Europe or the Far East. The 911 is Porsche's most well-known model, and in many ways it defines the Porsche brand.