Porsche makes a little less sales - but profits again

Porsche recorded slightly less business than expected in the third quarter due to lower sales. Sales fell by 7.5 percent to 8.05 billion euros, according to a statement published in Stuttgart on Tuesday. Operationally, the sports car manufacturer earned money again with 387 million euros, after special costs had caused the operating result to plummet to minus 966 million a year earlier.

Porsche missed analysts' forecasts in terms of sales and operating results. However, profitability met expectations with a margin of 4.8 percent. Porsche boss Michael Leiters confirmed the annual outlook.

After nine months, the Stuttgart-based company had a profit after taxes of 1.82 billion euros. A year earlier there had only been a profit of 114 million euros due to the realignment.

The VW subsidiary is under significant pressure, especially due to the collapse in sales figures in China. In the year to date, deliveries fell by a total of 16 percent to 178,352 cars. The Swabians also made a radical about-face when it came to electric drives. In the future, more money will flow into the development of combustion engines because customers in the luxury and sports car segment are unfamiliar with electric cars.

For a long time, Porsche was the most profitable German car manufacturer with 15 percent. In the next five years, the company wants to increase the margin again to a range of ten to ‌15 percent. However, Porsche is preparing for much lower sales: the break-even point should be achieved through savings, more luxury models and higher prices with fewer than 200,000 sales per year. The workforce of around 42,000 is expected to shrink by 25 percent in the medium term.