Porsche sells 246,375 cars in 2017, up 4%

Porsche has announced new records for deliveries, revenue and operating results in the 2017 financial year, delivering a total of 246,375 vehicles (+4 per cent) and increasing its revenue by five per cent – to 23.5 billion euro.

Its operating profit rose by seven percent to 4.1 billion euros (2016: 3.9 billion euros). As a result, its operating return on sales increased from 17.4 per cent in the previous year to 17.6 per cent. At the end of 2017, Porsche employed 29,777 people, representing an increase of eight percent compared to the previous year.

“This successful financial statement confirms our strategy. We are using our high earnings level to support an unprecedented future development plan,” said Oliver Blume, chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, at the annual press conference.

In addition to making sizeable investments in its core sports car business, Porsche is also doubling its expenditure on trends for the future, with a commitment to invest over six billion euro in electromobility by 2022. The money will be spent on derivatives of the Mission E, hybridisation and electrification of the current model range, as well as on developing a charging infrastructure and smart mobility.

“We have succeeded in boosting our operating result by over 50 per cent within the last three years,” emphasised Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT.

“With a profit margin of 17.6 percent, Porsche continues to be among the most profitable automobile manufacturers in the world. This is down to continuous improvements in productivity, our stringent cost management strategy as well as our outstanding product range,” continued Meschke.

Digitisation, electrification and connectivity are major challenges that require substantial investment. “Nevertheless, we are sticking to our strategic return target of at least 15 per cent. We must and we will generate growth potential alongside the actual vehicle business. In the medium term, we want to generate a double-digit percentage of sales through digital services.”

Meschke is optimistic in his outlook: “Our aim for 2018 is to stabilise revenue and deliveries at this high level.” Porsche expects the next boost in sales to come when the Mission E, the first purely electric vehicle, hits the market.

Plans for derivatives of the Mission E are also under way. Last week, Porsche presented a production-ready concept study of the Mission E Cross Turismo at the Geneva Motor Show. The purely electrically driven Cross-Utility Vehicle (CUV) has a system power of over 600 hp (440 kW), a range of more than 500 kilometres and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in under 3.5 seconds. The charging time is four minutes for a range of approximately 100 kilometres.

Three-pronged model strategy: ICE, plug-in hybrids & pure electric sports cars 
For the next 10 years, Porsche intends to continue with a three-pronged approach, incorporating optimised combustion engines, plug-in hybrid models and purely electric sports cars – all in typical Porsche style of course. “The regions of the world are developing at different rates. We are therefore gearing ourselves up as flexibly as possible for the transitional period,” said Blume.

Porsche also unveiled the 911 GT3 RS in Geneva. “The GT3 RS features the most powerful naturally aspirated engine Porsche has to offer,” said Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO. The new high-performance sports cars delivers 383 kW (520 hp) from a four-litre displacement, accelerates from 0 to 100kph in just 3.2 seconds and boasts a top speed of 312kph. Following the launch of the 911 GT3 and the 911 GT2 RS, this latest release saw Porsche present its third GT road-approved sports car within a year.