By Cristina Gallardo and Mauro Orru
Porsche AG cut its guidance for the year again as it continues to reel from a slow electric-vehicle market, fierce competition from Chinese rivals and President Trump's tariffs.
The German premium-car maker said it had been forced to conduct a significant review of its product portfolio, delaying the launch of some new fully electric vehicle models and adding models with combustion and hybrid drivetrains to supplement its lineup.
A new SUV Series won't initially be available as all-electric vehicles as originally planned. Instead, those vehicles will be offered exclusively as combustion engines and plug-in hybrids. Current models such as the Panamera and the Cayenne will also be available with combustion engines and as plug-in hybrids well into the 2030s.
The group expects to spend around 3.1 billion euros ($2.12 billion) on its realignment. Of this, up to 1.8 billion euros will go toward the rescheduling of a new platform for electric vehicles. As a result, Porsche now expects a return on sales of up to 2% this year, down from a previous forecast range of 5% to 7%.
It also lowered its automotive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin guidance to between 10.5% and 12.5%, from a previous range of 14.5% to 16.5%. It continues to expect sales between 37 billion euros and 38 billion euros.
Porsche has been grappling with a slow EV market. Last year, it scaled back its EV ambitions and vowed to expand its portfolio in the coming years to include models with combustion engines and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Earlier this year, Porsche unveiled plans to shed around 3,900 jobs by 2029 in a bid to become more efficient and inject new life into the brand.
Aside from EV market woes and declining demand in China, Porsche is also reckoning with 27.5% import tariffs in the U.S. President Trump plans to keep those duties on EU auto imports until the bloc introduces legislation to reduce levies on a variety of U.S. goods.
The company slashed guidance in July and April as it warned investors tariffs would have a negative effect. Its decision to cut its outlook for the second time in less than two months on Friday had ripple effects on Volkswagen and Porsche SE, the entity controlled by the Porsche-Piech family that holds big stakes in both companies.
Volkswagen, which owns more than 75% of Porsche AG, said its operating profit this year would take a hit of around 5.1 billion euros because of Porsche's forecast adjustments and portfolio review. Volkswagen now expects an operating return on sales to between 2% and 3% this year, compared with 4% to 5% previously.
Meanwhile, Porsche SE--which has a direct equity investment of around 12.5% in Porsche AG--is expecting an adjusted after tax profit of 900 million euros to 2.9 billion euros this year, below previous guidance of 1.6 billion euros to 3.6 billion euros.
Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com and Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 19, 2025 13:38 ET (17:38 GMT)
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