Falling EV Sales Means Porsche Will Continue to Develop Combustion-Engine Vehicles
By
Joe Kucinski - November 27, 2024
Porsche CFO explains that buyers still want combustion-engine vehicles and therefore the company is backing down from EV sales targets.
Sometimes consumers need to realize the power that they have. If a company sees that its customers are willing to pay through the nose for some of their products, then the company is going to raise the price of those products. On the other hand, if a company sees that customers are not interested in buying some of their products, then the company is going to stop producing them. For example, the
Porsche 911 GT3 just got a
lot more expensive because folks are willing to pay well above sticker price for one. And people have slowed down EV purchases, so Porsche has committed to developing combustion-engine vehicles for longer than expected.
According to a report by
Automotive News Europe, Porsche will develop new combustion-engine derivatives across its model range. Porsche CFO
Lutz Meschke said, “There is a clear trend in the premium luxury segment in the direction of combustion-engine cars, therefore we will react in our product cycle.” It appears that this may even include combustion or hybrid power for vehicles originally planned to be all-electric. “We are currently looking at the possibility of the originally planned all-electric vehicles having a hybrid drive or a combustion engine. We are currently in the middle of making conceptual decisions. What is clear is that we are sticking with the combustion engine for much longer,” said Meschke.
EV Sales
EV sales have been slumping and the China market is really hitting Porsche hard. “We see steep ramp-up curves for the BEVs in China, but luxury is still missing within the segment. It’s challenging, not only for Porsche but for all the European premium and luxury automakers,” said Meschke last month. But sales here in the U.S. have not been rosy either.
Taycan sales in Q3 of this year are down about 34 percent compared to last year.
A couple of weeks ago, I stated that the new Macan EV was going to be a tough sell for Porsche. It turns out that it might be an even tougher sell than I thought.
