BERLIN, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- A senior executive at German sports carmaker Porsche said Tuesday that 2027 was expected to mark a low point for the company, with vehicle sales and operating profit likely to decline, despite a sharp rebound in earnings in the first nine months of 2026.
Porsche chief financial officer Jochen Breckner attributed the expected downturn to gaps in the company's "product portfolio," noting during a quarterly earnings presentation that the combustion-engine Macan was no longer available following the end of its production earlier this year.
According to financial results released Tuesday, Porsche's global vehicle deliveries fell 16 percent year-on-year to 178,532 units in the first nine months, while revenue declined by a smaller 5.9 percent to 25.28 billion euros (28.17 billion U.S. dollars). The company said a higher proportion of high-margin models helped cushion the impact of lower sales volumes.
By contrast, operating profit surged to 1.74 billion euros (1.94 billion dollars) from just 40 million euros (44.6 million dollars) a year earlier, lifting the operating profit margin to 6.9 percent from 0.2 percent.
The Volkswagen-owned carmaker attributed the sharp rebound largely to lower special charges, which fell to around 500 million euros (557 million dollars) in the first nine months from 2.7 billion euros (3 billion dollars) a year earlier.
The charges were mainly related to changes in its electric vehicle strategy and battery operations, alongside workforce restructuring.
In 2022, Porsche announced an ambitious electrification target, aiming for fully electric vehicles to account for more than 80 percent of its sales by 2030.
However, the company revised its strategy late last year amid weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicles, delaying some electric vehicle projects and extending plans for combustion-engine models. The changes resulted in substantial one-off charges that weighed heavily on last year's earnings.
Alongside the shift in its product strategy, Porsche has also moved to cut costs and reduce its workforce. In July, the company announced plans to cut another 5,000 jobs in Germany by 2035, bringing its planned workforce reductions to around 9,000 positions in the country.
