8:53 am, March 13, 2025
Porsche is to slash its workforce after sales in China collapsed and Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on cars imported from Europe.
The company is to axe 3,900 jobs with bosses warning that 2025 earnings will be impacted by the growth of domestic competition in China.
They also flagged concerns about US trade tensions while presenting its 2024 earnings yesterday (March 12).
The headcount reduction will see 1,900 workers lose their jobs, while a further 2,000 temporary contracts will not be renewed.
The company’s operating profit dropped by 23% in 2024 to €5.6bn (£4.7bn), yielding a return on sales of 14.1% despite revenue remaining roughly on the previous year’s level.
As a result, it lowered its profitability goal, aiming for a figure of 15 to 17% in the medium term, having previously targeted as much as 19%.
Shares in Porsche dropped heavily last month when it warned its margin for 2025 would hit just 10 to 12% because of investments in new internal-combustion engine and plug-in hybrid models.
Its 2025 forecast, based on expected sales revenue of €39bn (£32.7bn) to €40bn (£33.6bn), does not factor in new tariffs that US President Donald Trump may impose on car imports from Europe.
The company said it would consider passing on some of the costs that Trump is threatening to impose to consumers, but hopes that a ‘sensible’ tariff structure will prevail.
‘When the subject becomes concrete, we will assess which price options there are to pass on consumers,’ said the brand’s chief financial officer Jochen Breckner.
The company is planning an additional 911 model and plans to spend €800m (£671m) developing more models powered by fossil fuels, following lower than expected demand for its electric cars.
It added that it will offer a range of combustion-engined Porsches ‘well into the 2030s’.
