How to Sell a Porsche Through TikTok — An Interview with a Car Dealership Manager

Before the auto business, I worked on cruise ships. I've been selling cars both offline and online for 8 years now. TikTok helps me sell cars online.

I started out selling Mitsubishi cars in Zaporizhzhia. Then I decided to move to Odesa — I love that city. When I arrived, I got a job at Renault. I didn't enjoy it and quit after 3 months.

When I decided to leave the Renault dealership, I posted my CV on Work.ua. Porsche called me, but at that point I already had an offer from Ford, which I had accepted. I agreed with the director on Friday that I'd start on Monday. I remember it clearly — I had a day off and went to the beach. Then Porsche called and said they wanted to invite me for an interview. I asked: "Which dealership?" They said: Porsche. I couldn't believe it. Through Work.ua — to Porsche?

I asked about the interview date and they said they needed me in an hour or two. I calculated when my next day off would be and asked if we could do it the following week. The manager said it was technically possible, but the position probably wouldn't still be available by then. So I ran home, got changed, and went to the interview. It went well, and I've been working at the Porsche dealership since September 2018.

I decided to start making TikTok videos not for sales purposes — that wasn't my primary goal. I started filming TikToks back in 2019–2020, but I wasn't running the page consistently.

I started posting content actively in 2022, when I had a lot of free time. When the full-scale invasion began, the factory stopped producing cars for our market, but the dealership kept operating. I decided to make good use of my free time — by making videos. I felt like I was doing well with TikTok back then.

Very often. I created a Telegram channel where I post cars, and it's also for easy communication. TikTok's direct messaging is inconvenient — you can't send commercial proposals there. It's much easier to communicate through a Telegram channel. 

I already have 500 subscribers on Telegram, and all of them came from TikTok. These are people who are interested in Porsche cars. There are about 2–3 inquiries a day coming through TikTok to the Telegram channel.

It's hard to calculate — it depends on the video. If the car is in stock, about an hour. If I'm filming with someone, I try to invite our clients or public figures — that can take a couple of hours. 

And if I'm filming a car delivery, like that one with the balloons in the pinned videos, I spent the whole day shooting a little here, a little there, and edited it in the evening. But I try to post one video per day.

The result is good, in my opinion. Of course, I'd have liked more, but my blog has a very narrow niche. 8,000 followers only seems like a small number. There are bloggers out there with millions of followers who have achieved far more than me in a year and a half. But if you look at 8,000 within Ukraine — I'm in first place in the automotive business. I'm the only one running a blog in this format; I have the most followers and millions of views. 

For me, the key metric is that my clients are among my followers. I have a small blog, but it's a goldmine. My clients are there — a lot of them — and they constantly message me: "I've seen you, I've seen you." Those are just the ones I know personally, and on top of that, many people come into the showroom and say: "We saw you on TikTok." I have a golden account.

To date, I've sold 9 cars — but those are only the clients who messaged me directly. I can't count how many cars TikTok has helped our showroom sell overall. People constantly walk in and say: "Oh, we saw you on TikTok." Some may have said nothing at all and just bought a car. That happens too.

I was the best manager in Ukraine for 2023. That's based on signed contracts.

I moved to Odesa deliberately — I love this city, and Kyiv just doesn't appeal to me the same way. I had a choice of where to relocate: Odesa or Kyiv. I chose Odesa. The capital has more sales, but it also has more managers. So it balances out. 

Training is mandatory for us — it's part of the job. I fly out whenever a new car, a facelift, or a new generation is being presented. The trainings are held for dealerships from all over the world. The company covers all such trips. 

In 2024, I flew twice for the presentation of the new electric Macan, the new Panamera, and the Taycan. That was in Portugal, in Lisbon, in February. And I've just returned from the presentation of the new 911 — the facelift of the 8th generation. The next trip is planned for 2025.

I've been in every Porsche model — though not always behind the wheel; sometimes as a passenger. In the Taycan Turbo GT, a professional driver took us around the track. I also rode the 911 GT3 RS on a track. 

It was a Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet for €315,000. That's the largest deal I've ever closed.

I'll start with the cringe. We had a story where a man came in with one girl, picked out a car, walked around the showroom, and they discussed the trim level. Then he said: "Alright, we're buying it for you, she provided her passport and tax ID." And then he backed out, saying it was too late to make the payment that day and they'd close the deal tomorrow. Then she called asking where her car was. But the man, of course, never paid a thing.

A month later, the same man came in with a different girl, and the whole story repeated itself. He walks in, picks out a car, and follows the same script. I want to warn women: a contract means nothing — without payment, it gets cancelled after 2 days.

The coolest story happened about three years ago. A young couple came into the showroom without a driver's license and asked to order a Porsche. The administrator called me over and filled me in on the details.

My first impression was that it was a joke. The guests looked about 18, they were laughing and whispering to each other. I thought I'd just be wasting my time, but I worked with them anyway.

We chose the configuration, the guy left a deposit, and the next day he paid in full. To give you some context — he had earned his first million dollars at 18, and was 23 at the time of purchase.

It's a lesson for everyone — you can't judge by appearances, every story is different. They ordered the car, waited 6 months, and in the meantime took driving lessons. By the time the car arrived, they had their licenses. And since then, they've bought 2 more cars from me.

Audi tried to poach me a few times, though "poach" isn't quite the right word — the terms they offered were worse and the position was equivalent. That didn't interest me. By that point I'd already been at Porsche for about two years and had built up my client base. At Audi, I'd have to start from scratch.

I didn't even consider the offer. They called, and even wanted me to name my own terms. I said I wanted the head of sales position. And it was exactly that person who was calling me 🙂

The TikTok account is personal — it's my own initiative. No one helps me with filming, so no one can take the account away.

When it comes to personal pages run by sales managers, probably not. I'm number one in Ukraine. When it comes to dealership accounts, there are some great pages with solid content — but that's a different format altogether.

I'm planning to move toward more professional content. Editing, filming, scripting — it's all incredibly draining. A higher level of quality requires more time, and right now I'm doing everything on my own. But I've already started looking for a team to help streamline the process.

If you compare my videos from a year ago to what I'm putting out now, you'll see the improvement. Maybe in 2–3 years, I'll be publishing content on YouTube. I hope it all works out.

I have a dream, like millions of people around the world — the Porsche 911. I want it in the Targa body style, in red. It's the dream of all dreams.