Porsche sold a record number of cars for the third consecutive year in 2023, significantly boosting its revenues and profits – but predicts a dip in 2024 as a result of heavy investment in new model lines.
The German firm generated €40.5 billion (£34.6bn) in revenue last year – a 7.7% increase on 2022. Of that, €7.3bn was profit – a near-identical year-on-year uptick.
That increase comes despite what Porsche refers to as “disruptions to global supply chains, significant inflation and exceptionally high investments in digitisation, product and innovation portfolios and the brand experience”.
Porsche delivered a record 320,221 cars in 2023, reflecting a “more balanced” spread of sales globally, after a dip in demand from China – its largest market – dented its delivery tally in 2022.
Sales continued to slide in China in 2023, down 15% on 2022 to 79,823 sales, to make North America the brand's biggest market, with 86,059 sales.
The arrival of the new Macan EV in the coming months is widely seen as crucial to shoring up the brand's position in China, which has a strong affinity for electric premium SUVs.
The new Macan's launch – delayed by around a year due to problems at the Volkswagen Group's software division, Cariad – is especially important in Europe too, as new regional software regulations mean the strong-selling ICE Macan will be taken off sale in the coming months. It will, however, remain available in the UK.
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume gave a cautious outlook concerning Porsche's financial performance in 2024 in light of a substantial new model investment programme and various market "headwinds", predicting €40-42bn of revenue and margins of between 15% and 17% - down on 18% in 2023 and falling short of analysts' expectations.
"We expect strong headwinds given the global economic conditions," he said, but added: "We are convinced that our exclusive range of new vehicles will continue to bring our margins up further. We are pushing ahead with our road to 2030 programme."
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