PORSCHE REGROUPS AROUND ICE AFTER A YEAR TO FORGET

Firm to spend up to €800m on extra models after Taycan EV sales halved

- NICK GIBBS

Just 12 months ago, Oliver Blume lauded his decision to approve the Taycan electric saloon for production at his firstever supervisory board meeting as Porsche CEO, back in 2015.

"We were talking about billions in investment. It required a lot of courage," he recalled.

Today, Porsche is having to backtrack on its electric ambitions after a pretty grim year in which Taycan sales plummeted 49%, sales in China dived 28% and the company's share price tumbled 53% from its 2023 peak.

The fallout has pushed Porsche to the brink of a major leadership overhaul one that's expected to cost the jobs of deputy chairman and chief financial officer Lutz Meschke and sales and marketing director Detlev von Platen. The pair are being blamed for the company's downturn and a faltering share price.

Whether other top managers are being targeted remains unclear, but Blume's dual role as both Porsche CEO and overall Volkswagen Group CEO is one that's being questioned by investors.

In response to the stock value downturn, Porsche announced earlier this month that it would spend an additional €800 million (£666.1m) in 2025, partly to "expand the product portfolio to include additional vehicle models with combustion engines or plug-in hybrids".