Germany's Porsche has cemented its reputation as the world's most profitable car maker with yet another set of turbo-charged results.

The firm said strong demand for its 911 and Boxster models helped its profit leap by 40% to 828.9m euros (�522m; $818m) for the year ending 31 July.

It predicted that its new Cayenne four-wheel-drive vehicle, unveiled recently at the Paris Motor Show, would help the boom persist well into next year.

"Porsche is extremely confident," the company said in a statement.

Standing out

Porsche's good fortune comes at a time of modest gloom for the automotive industry, hit by sagging sales in the high-volume, low-margin mass market.

Luxury car makers have performed better, and Porsche - the only major car firm wholly focused on the premium market - has done best of all.

The company's shares surged by 15% after the results announcement, which was far better than most analysts had expected.

"The outlook is super, as it always seems to be," said Deutsche Bank automotive analyst Lars Ziehn.

"We have them on buy and that's the way it will stay."

Better, not more

Porsche's latest results are more to do with quality than quantity.

The firm's total unit sales were very slightly down, but it sold far more of its high-margin 911 model than its cheaper and less profitable Boxster.

High hopes are now pinned on the Cayenne, the firm's first venture into the lucrative but crowded market for four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Priced at 60,000-100,000 euros, the Cayenne is planned to boost Porsche unit sales by 50% in the longer term.

But while some fear Porsche's ambitions for the Cayenne may be unrealistic, the firm has been careful to avoid some of the risks associated with new model launches; the chassis, for example, is built by rival Vokswagen, which uses it for its own new four-wheel drive.