Between electric vehicles, US tariffs, and a slowdown in China, the last few years have been tough for Porsche. After struggling for years to earn huge profit margins and add sales of new models, it is now making almost nothing. To fix that, the company’s new CEO is looking to scale things back.
CEO Is Cutting Back To Make Porsche Great Again
Porsche CEO Michael Leiters.Porsche
New CEO Michael Leiters is making big changes. The company sold its investments in Bugatti, it is dissolving a nearly-new Car-IT division, and there are reports that it could even cut another executive board member.
German business newspaper Handelsblatt is reporting that the company is looking at slashing its vehicle production, too. The site said that Leiters is looking to restructure the company so that it can still make a profit while building 200,000 vehicles per year.
Porsche sold 320,000 vehicles in 2023 and 310,000 in 2024, but 200,000 might not be as far away as that sounds. In 2025, the company sold just 280,000 vehicles, and its first-quarter 2026 sales are already down another 15%. It could end up at 200,000 whether it wants to or not.
2027 Porsche 911 GT3 S/C Interior ViewPorsche
Leiters reportedly wants to not just make the company work at the lower sales figure, but to have it have success that matches just a few years ago. That means profit margins between 10 and 15%, even at the lower numbers. This year, Porsche’s trend to lower profits has also continued into the first quarter, with operating profit down 22%.
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This will likely mean job cuts. The report says that the CEO is in talks with its works councils, and hints that a quarter of staff at the company’s development center could be let go.
Delays, Tariffs, Headwinds
Porsche Macan GTS ElectricPorsche
The automaker has been plagued by delays, then the changes to tariffs in the US and the slowdown of demand for high-end EVs – especially in China – combined to hit the automaker hard.
It should have had the Taycan, Macan EV, Cayenne EV, and the 718 Cayman and Boxster electrics on sale now, with the corresponding gas models axed or close to it. The small electric sports cars are now nowhere in sight, and reports vary between further delays and the project being dropped.
Porsche is also scrambling to develop new gas-powered Macan and Cayenne models, while leaning on the aging gas Cayenne for sales. The gas Macan will go out of production this summer.
If sales drop to the 200,000 unit level, that would put the company back at the same place it was in 2014. For much of that year, it sold just five models. The Macan would show up for the first time mid-year and help launch Porsche through 300,000.
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Today, the brand sells five models once again, with the Taycan and Macan joining and the 718 Boxster and Cayman currently on a break. Sales of the electric Macan are nearly equal to sales of the gas model right now, but Porsche will need some more buyers to make the switch when the gas vehicle is cut, at least until it comes back.
Why It Matters: The CarBuzz Take
2025 Porsche Cayenne close-up view of steering wheelPorsche
Continuous, unchecked growth is often seen as the goal for many businesses. They want more profit, and to do so need to sell more cars, hire more people, create more complexity, which has severe results when the industry pivots significantly in a brief period of time. Automakers operate four, five, or six years into the future and can’t turn on a dime. So it’s refreshing to hear a CEO of an automaker like Porsche take a pause to say, ‘maybe we should slow down’.
The real reason it matters is that the rest of the auto industry will be watching, and if it works for Porsche, we might have a few more trying the same tactic. It won’t exactly solve global greed, but it might make those reliant on the industry to put food on the table less susceptible to sudden market shifts ruining their ability to provide for their families.
Source: Handelsblatt
