Porsche’s CEO, Dr. Michael Leiters, outlines “Strategy 2035” to enter higher margin segments during its Annual Press Conference 2026

Like the visceral thrills served-up by its scintillating GT and RS models, Stuttgart-based Porsche is a brand that has demonstrated itself to be agile and dynamic, especially as far as product and strategic direction are concerned.

Porsche doesn’t knee-jerk react to industry movements, but has the gumption to make deliberate decisions that try to ensure it remains relevant amidst the disruptive onslaught of new brands, new technology and some even say, a new world order.

This means having the will and the ability to pivot on a dime when the operating environment is in flux, detractors be danged. After all, taking pre-emptive action to realign one’s strategy is always better than being led around by the nose, or simply taking too long to react due to convoluted internal processes.

In some ways, you can think of Porsche’s product and policy rejig as ripping the band-aid off quickly, versus the drawn-out lingering pain that comes with a slow pull.

The new CEO, Dr. Michael Leiters (pictured above and in the first photo with the 911 Turbo S T-Hybrid), is pushing the pace: “Since I took office, our management team has systematically analysed the situation and begun a series of initial targeted measures. These include the consistent application of our Value over Volume principle, especially in the difficult market environment of China; and the quality-oriented ramp-up of production of the all-electric Cayenne. We will streamline our management structure, reduce hierarchies and cut back on bureaucracy. We have also already begun to focus more strongly on our core business.”

Leiters emphasises: “We are using the current challenges as an opportunity to act even more decisively. We will comprehensively reposition Porsche, make the company leaner, faster and the products even more desirable.”

This was on the back of a challenging 2025, with Group sales revenue and Group operating profit dropping to 36.27b euros (2024: 40.08b euros) and 413m euros (2024: 5.64b euros) respectively. The reasons for this were, among other things, extraordinary expenses of approximately 3.9b euros. These consist of the product strategy realignment and the rescaling of the company (approximately 2.4b euros), as well as additional expenses from battery activities (approximately 700m euros) and US tariffs (approximately 700m euros).

Automotive net cash flow was 1.51b euros (2024: 3.73b euros). The share of purely battery-powered electric vehicles was 22.2 per cent (2024: 12.7 per cent) and above the originally expected range. With 279,449 vehicles delivered, customer deliveries declined by 10.1% in FY2025 (2024: 310,718 vehicles). However, in spite of the challenging conditions, Porsche is in a strong financial position, with high net liquidity and a healthy balance sheet.

“Porsche had enormous challenges to fight worldwide in 2025”, reported Dr. Jochen Breckner, Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT (pictured above). “The global challenges and the company's realignment impacted earnings in 2025. In 2026, our recalibration measures will continue to have one-off effects on earnings in the high three-digit million euros range. In order to secure adequate margins by Porsche standards in the medium term and strengthen our resilience in the long term, we accept these burdens.”

2025 also saw the launch of two key models, the range-topping 911 Turbo S T-Hybrid (pictured above)...

...and the Cayenne Electric (pictured above), with the latter complementing the existing mix of combustion-engined and plug-in hybrid Cayenne models to offer a robust powertrain portfolio.

Leiters clearly expressed his own expectations of the company: “The name Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche stands for the technical excellence of a sports car manufacturer. We stand for uncompromisingly good sports cars that you want to drive yourself, that are fun, that convey performance and passion. And all this regardless of the type of powertrain.”

Seventy days after taking office in January, Leiters outlined the first concrete cornerstones of his Strategy 2035: “We are considering the expansion of our product portfolio in order to grow in higher-margin segments. In doing so, we are looking at models and derivatives both above our current two-door sports cars and above the Cayenne.”

With a view to the capital market, he added: “With Strategy 2035, we want to lay the foundations for sustainably strong cash flow, strong results and margins that are appropriate for Porsche.”

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