► EV uptake is slow
► How Stuttgart plans to pivot
► How does Porsche plan to back ICE and EV?
After 30 golden years Porsche suddenly finds itself at a busy crossroads littered with massive challenges.
At the heart of the problem is relatively poor sales for electric Porsches, prompting a rethink of the current strategy of switching to an all-electric line-up. Sales in China sales were down 30 per cent in 2024, the return on investment is veering away from the targeted 20 per cent, the Macan E and the facelifted Taycan are performing below target, with resale values plummeting, and the group’s all-important electric-only SSP architecture is already three years late.
While the state-funded Chinese car industry is harvesting the CO2 fields with a glut of affordable and competent battery-powered products supported by a fleet of equally impressive long-range hybrids, European high-flyers like Porsche are not only struggling to convince their predominantly conservative fan base with electric products – they are simultaneously facing fundamental productivity, cost, technology and infrastructure issues.
On 10 November CFO Lutz Meschke stated in an investors’ call that Porsche would have to rethink its EV-centric strategy. Options would include new editions of existing combustion-engine platforms, and making sure future electric models can accommodate combustion and hybrid powerplants.
‘What is clear is that we are sticking with the combustion engine for much longer,’ said Meschke, without providing further details.
Key to the rethink is the Macan Mk2, recently launched in electric-only guise. A combustion version – presumably sharing underpinnings with the new Audi Q5 – would most likely take three years to develop, meaning a long absence from the market of one of Porsche’s biggest sellers. An announcement is expected in March.
As recently as October, Porsche was still planning a heavily EV-dominated future product line-up that included the Mission X supercar, revealed as a concept in 2023, the K1 seven-seat SUV, an electric Panamera, and electric as well as combustion Cayennes. How much of that plan remains is unclear, but we hear the 1500bhp Mission X is doomed and the K1 faces a long delay if not complete cancellation. The knock-on effects of the latter would be felt throughout the group, as the underlying SSP61 components set is earmarked for future Lamborghini and Bentley products.
Backing EV so vigorously is now looking like a mistake. Instead of hedging his bets, BMW-style, the Porsche CEO Oliver Blume went all-in with the initially very successful, and he waived the fallback plans for the best-selling petrol-fed Macan and the Boxster/Cayman.
Despite persistent software and battery issues, the Boxster and Cayman are finally heading for pre- production. That’s the good news. The bad news concern the ho-hum max charging power of 270kW, the corresponding extended charging times and most of all the rumoured highly ambitious pricing with numbers of between 130,000 and 150,000 euros.
Only five years ago, Porsche had envisioned a peak annual volume of 331,631 units for 2025. At the most recent investors’ conference call, however, Meschke reckoned a mid-term maximum of 250,000 sales to be more realistic. But even this number won’t come easy now that some projects might bite the dust while others will be subject to unforeseen lifecycle extensions which are bound to harm their appeal.