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Porsche sales slumped by a tenth last year as the German sports-car maker faced weaker than expected demand for its electric models and struggled in the Chinese market.
The company sold 279,449 vehicles, down from 310,718 in 2024. That was the steepest sales slide since 2009, in the midst of the global financial crisis, when deliveries fell by 13.7 per cent.
The decline underlines the challenges ahead for new Porsche chief executive Michael Leiters, who took the reins at the start of the year.
The company has embarked on a restructuring programme to reduce its production capacity and is in talks with trade unions in Germany about further savings.
Porsche last year was forced into a costly adjustment to its model range, shifting the emphasis back to petrol and hybrid models and shelving plans for new electric vehicles following weak demand.
Last year’s sales slump had been partly due to “supply gaps” for the 718 and the Macan, its bestselling model, sales chief Matthias Becker said in a statement.
Porsche stopped selling petrol versions of both models in Europe over a failure to comply with EU cyber security regulations and decided against developing replacements that would have met the new standards.
Despite an increase in US tariffs announced in 2025, North America was its best-performing region, down only a few hundred units compared with more significant declines elsewhere.
Sales collapsed by 16 per cent in Germany, Porsche’s home market, with a 13 per cent decline for Europe.
Continuing weak demand in China, where European carmakers have found it increasingly difficult to sell luxury vehicles amid growing domestic competition, also weighed on the tally.
Porsche sold 41,938 vehicles in China, down 26 per cent on the previous year and under half the total for 2022.
Becker tempered expectations for a rapid rebound in sales this year. “We are planning our volumes for 2026 realistically, considering the production phaseout of the combustion-engined 718 and Macan models,” he said.
Porsche would also pursue a “value over volume strategy” and expand customisation options for customers, Becker added.