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Porsche EV plans a pipe dream

Porsche backpedals on EVs as the realities of market demand bites

17 Oct 2025

PORSCHE’S commitment to go 80 per cent EV by 2030 now appears a pipe dream as the iconic German brand deals with serious financial straits and job cuts attributed in part to its gung-ho EV plan that media reports say have taken it from profit powerhouse to crisis case in just two years.

 

Expressing a widely held opinion, Automotive News quoted auto industry analyst Jürgen Pieper as saying, “Customers could have told them, 19 out of 20 would have said an all-electric Porsche is a strange idea, but they thought they knew better”.

 

“Sportscar buyers remain hesitant because of steep depreciation of EVs. A Taycan electric sedan sees its worth tumble after just 12 months, while the iconic 911 keeps its value even after a decade,” said Automotive News.

 

Despite this, Porsche persists with plans to make one of its bread-and-butter models, the long-awaited new generation 718 Cayman and Boxster fully electric when it arrives some time in 2027 (delayed because of battery supplies).

 

To date, Porsche has announced a roll-back of its EV program four times, the company already admitting in July 2025, February 2025 and July 2024 that it went too hard, too soon on the switch to all-electric that has led to CEO Oliver Blume’s position coming under scrutiny.

 

Porsche warned on September 19 that its profit margin will reach only 2.0 per cent at most this year after the company “upended its EV strategy at a cost of €1.8 billion ($A3.2b) showing the depth of the automaker’s troubles”.

 

The latest change of tack is exemplified in Porsche’s K1 three-row flagship SUV above the Cayenne which was to be aimed at the key US and Chinese markets. It was originally planned as an electric-only model and was due to launch in 2027 but will now arrive in the early 2030s as a combustion engine and plug-in hybrid model.

 

“The Panamera sedan and the Cayenne large SUV will retain their plug-in hybrid and combustion engine drivetrains when they are replaced in the next decade,” reported Automotive News.

 

Porsche’s new software-led SSP Sport architecture is being “rescheduled,” the brand says. It will not be ready until well into the 2030s, and it will not be an exclusively Porsche-developed architecture.

 

The SSP Sport platform, which Porsche was developing from VW Group’s Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) electrical and electronic architecture, will now be redesigned in coordination with other VW Group brands.

 

Other factors are in play at Porsche that are adversely affecting its bottom line including the US tariff impact on Porsche, collapsing Porsche sales in China, supply chain challenges and strategic missteps.

 

Starting with tariffs, Automotive News reports, “As a manufacturer with an entirely European production base, Porsche is heavily exposed to global trade friction. Vehicles exported to the US from its home base in Germany now face a 15 per cent tariff costing the company hundreds of millions this year alone”.

 

Of Porsche sales in China, it says, “China, once a growth engine for Porsche, has become a drag. Luxury sales cratered amid the country’s real estate crisis. Porsche’s sales in China fell 21 per cent during the third quarter, dragging down the brand’s global shipments, which declined 5.7 per cent”.

 

The third issue impacting Porsche relates to its supply chain “which has compounded the manufacturer’s woes as slumping volumes and tighter bank lending have left many suppliers struggling to stay afloat which has forced Porsche to intervene financially in some cases”.

 

“For example, Porsche had to take over battery supplier Varta to secure cells for its upcoming hybrid 911,” added Automotive News.

 

And as mentioned at the start, management’s punt on making 80 per cent of its sales fully electric by 2030 has failed as expected demand for electric cars has not materialised.

 

The German performance car manufacturer is not the only manufacturer to jump the gun on EVs as numerous others are also in backpedal mode including fellow Volkswagen Group brand Bentley that last month reversed its decision to move to all electric vehicles by the end of the decade.

 

The Bentley announcement followed Audi (also part of the Volkswagen Group) that last year cancelled its plans to go electric-only by 2030.

 

Other manufacturers who have recently backed away from their all-electric promises include Stellantis pulling back from its Dare Forward electric pledge, Alfa Romeo which cancelled its plans to go all electric by 2027, Fiat which said it was shifting away from a fully electric 500 range and Aston Martin that has delayed its EV program by five years.

 

BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, JLR, Lotus, Ford, Smart, Geely, Cupra, Dodge and others have all announced “recalibrations” to their EV plans.


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