Porsche boss Oliver Blume is expecting “challenging times” in 2025 due to lower sales and further investment in rescaling its product portfolio, but he insists the firm is setting “the right course to strength the brand” in the longer term.
The German manufacturer struggled in 2024, with its operating profits of €5.6 billion (£4.72bn) down 22.6% on the previous year's. Porsche’s overall sales revenue of €40.1bn (£33.8bn) declined only 1.1%, but the firm was hit by heavy investment in renewed products and work to extend the life of its combustion and hybrid models to adapt to lower than expected demand for EVs.
Porsche’s profits were hit by the investment in the launch of new or facelifted versions of five of its six-model line-up (the Cayenne, Panamera, Taycan, 911 and Macan) since late 2023.
Having already reshaped its board, the firm has now announced further plans to react by investing further in new products, and cost-reduction measures, which will include cutting around 3900 jobs.
Porsche sold 310,718 cars during 2024, a 3% decline on the previous year. Although sales grew slightly in most global markets, the firm was hit by a substantial 28% fall in the Chinese market, which Porsche attributed to the “challenging” economic situation.
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The firm’s return on sales was 14.1%, down from 18% in 2023. It expects that to dip to around 10-12% this year, but in the long term has targeted a level of around 20%. Key to increasing the return on each vehicle will be an increased emphasis on limited-edition and customised options from its Manufaktur arm.
Electrified cars accounted for 27% of Porsche’s sales, with full EVs making up 12.7%. Porsche expects those percentages to rise to around 33-35% and 20-22% respectively in 2025. But while EV sales are growing, Porsche has committed to a more flexible approach described by Blume as “hedging”, which will involve extending the life of combustion and hybrid models until “well into” the 2030s. The company is also planning two develop a new hybrid and combustion-engined SUV model line.
Porsche had previously aimed for 80% of its sales to be full electric by 2030, which Blume called “one of the most ambitious plans of the whole industry”. He insisted the firm’s product strategy “would still allow for it” but said “in view of market developments, it’s no longer realistic”, although, as with the wider Volkswagen Group, he insisted e-mobility is still the future.
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