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Porsche is exploring expanding its range to include more premium vehicles as its new chief executive seeks to revive the luxury-car maker following a plunge in profits last year.
Michael Leiters, the former McLaren chief and Ferrari executive who took over at Porsche in January, vowed to “act even more decisively” to make the company “leaner” as investors anticipate more restructuring this year following €3.9bn in writedowns and tariff costs in 2025.
“The organisation . . . has grown disproportionately relative to the development of our business,” he said on Wednesday in his first presentation to investors as Porsche’s chief. “Under the changed conditions, the previously planned reduction will not be sufficient.”
Leiters outlined a strategy where Porsche would no longer focus on more sales volume but instead aim for higher profit margins through a revival of petrol models and an expansion of its product portfolio.
A presentation slide to investors showed a larger-segment sport utility vehicle — which would be more expensive than its existing two-door sports cars and its Cayenne SUV — and the silhouette of a supercar.
Leiters said that would open the door to more revenue from personalisation, turning to a playbook that has proved hugely successful at Ferrari and other premium marques.
“The demand for vehicles with internal combustion engines will continue to offer us potential,” he added. “In contrast, the battery electric vehicle market is characterised by intense price competition, which we will not follow for economic and brand-related reasons.”
Porsche’s operating profits plunged 92.7 per cent to €400mn after taking a €3.9bn hit from US tariff costs and one-off charges from the unwinding of its electric vehicle strategy as it moved to reinvest in petrol models.
Chief financial officer Jochen Breckner said restructuring measures would incur further one-off charges this year of €800mn to €900mn. The new charges were reflected in the guidance and represented new measures taken since the beginning of the year.
Porsche is in talks with unions over a new cost-cutting programme in addition to its previous restructuring plans that will reduce headcount by 3,900 by the end of the decade.
“I think it is clear that Porsche will be . . . more compact than it is today,” Leiters said.
Porsche’s results weighed on the Volkswagen group, which presented its annual results on Tuesday. Typically a driver of profits for the German carmaker, Porsche’s profitability lagged behind VW’s mass-market brands last year.
VW, which is in the midst of a wide-ranging restructuring programme, said it needed to “continue to rigorously reduce costs” to increase profitability. The group has planned 50,000 job cuts by 2030 at its factories in Germany, where production costs are higher.
Porsche said it expected its operating profit margin to rise to between 5.5 and 7.5 per cent this financial year but fall short of analysts’ estimates of 7.8 per cent. Its margin last year was just 1.1 per cent, down from 14 per cent in 2024.
Porsche’s struggles in the Chinese market, where its sales dropped 26 per cent last year, also weighed on its results.
The forecast did not include the impact of the war in the Middle East but Breckner said “the situation could adversely affect supply chains and demand”.
VW on Tuesday said the conflict could affect sales in the region, highlighting risks for its premium brands.
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