E-car blackout – Tracks and models shake: Porsche crumbles

Things aren’t looking so precarious lately. According to Automobilwoche, Porsche “achieved an operating return of 14.1 percent in the first nine months of 2024 that many other companies can only dream of. But the third quarter was weak.”

People in Zuffenhausen also complain about the collapse of demand in China. Minus in the Middle Kingdom was around 30 percent in September, and the trend is rising sharply. China is literally collapsing.

“In China, a combustion engine from the premium segment, which costs 70,000 to 80,000 euros, competes with Chinese vehicles in the e-segment, which are pushed onto the market for 30,000 euros and also have a lot to offer,” the spokesperson said. The industry newspaper quoted Lutz Meschke, Porsche’s financial director. German brands are increasingly losing importance.

Porsche actually wanted to sell 80 percent electric cars by 2030. Ambitious.

Homemade model problems
The fact that things don’t work that way is to some extent your own fault. The Porsche Taycan became a slow seller with high prices and limited supply. The revised version now does a lot better, but the child seems to have already fallen into the pit. And the market introduction of the electric SUV Macan has been postponed for two years due to software problems. Now the car that was supposed to pull the coals from the fire starts up in the middle of low demand.

Also problems with the electric Porsche 718. No new platform may be used for the electric versions of the Boxster and Cayman; instead, the existing platform should be used. But they are not making much progress with the revision, as Automobilwoche has learned. Schedule? No chance.

The sticking point is the placement of the battery. Battery supplier Valmet Automotive has built a factory in Baden-Württemberg. But now the Finns are complaining that Porsche is constantly demanding adjustments, but apparently does not want to pay or only partially pays for “significant additional costs”. The question is whether the electric version will be ready by the time the combustion engine 718 is phased out in the summer of 2025.

And then there is the question of why customers should buy an electric Porsche if the loss in value is so great that it can be called a waste of money. “Luxury is ultimately defined by the stability of the value of the product,” a Porsche executive, who asked not to be named, told Automobilwoche.

But even more investments in combustion engines?
Because they slow down electric vehicles, pushing combustion engine technology to the limits could be a solution, the industry newspaper reports from insider circles. The Cayenne platform, on which the VW Touareg and Audi Q7 are also based, could be completely renewed again. Previously, only cosmetic adjustments were planned for future emissions regulations to allow for overlap.

The electric variant was planned for 2026, but will probably also be delayed. The Panamera, which has just entered the market as the supposedly last pure combustion engine, could also have a successor after 2030, contrary to previous plans. The same goes for the 911.

In addition, a previously unplanned seven-seater luxury SUV with an internal combustion engine based on the Cayenne platform could be on track in the short term. Such a model is actually planned on an electric platform, but it may not reach customers in the US and Vhina in 2027, but only years later.

Taycan in Zuffenhausen?
Porsche had built a factory specifically for the Taycan at its headquarters in Zuffenhausen as a flagship project for which employees even accepted salary cuts. Now production could be moved to Leipzig. 1,000 temporary workers have already been sent home permanently.

Nothing is yet known about further job losses at Porsche, but Automobilwoche calculates based on the drop in turnover that 20 percent of jobs are at risk. That would be 8,000 employees. Only in China do they laugh up their sleeves.