Porsche looking to make EV policy U-turn after sales slow as car giant set to return to gas vehicles

Following the luxury automaker’s announcement of declining sales, Porsche is attempting to reverse its EV strategy.

The German automaker has acknowledged that they want to return to the creation of gas-powered vehicles. Their current lineup of EVs includes the all-electric Taycan and the recently announced electric-powered Macan.

Although Porsche has long used hybrid power in many of its models, the Taycan, the company’s first fully electric car, was just introduced in 2019.

Since then, they have been regarded as one of the leading innovators in the automotive industry, producing electric vehicles in addition to their gas-powered counterparts.

However, according to AutomobileNewsEurope, Porsche has started to see a stall in EV sales, selling only 3,394 Taycans through the third quarter of 2024, a 35% decrease from the year before.

Additionally, Porsche’s total sales in China fell by 29% in September.

Lutz Meschke, CFO at Porsche, stated: “We will respond in our product cycle because there is a noticeable trend in the premium luxury market toward cars with combustion engines.

“We see steep ramp-up curves for the BEVs in China, but luxury is still missing within the segment,” Meschke continued, referring to the downturn in China, a significant market for Porsche.

As a result, Porsche will now concentrate its efforts on creating internal combustion engines, which will involve keeping the gas-powered Cayenne SUV and Panamera sedan in production.

“We are currently considering the possibility of the initially planned all-electric vehicles having a combustion engine or a hybrid drive,” Meschke continued.

“We’re in the midst of deciding on concepts right now. It is obvious that we will continue to use combustion engines for a very long time.

Porsche is currently developing a full-size electric SUV that will sit atop the Cayenne EV.

This model might eventually acquire a hybrid setup, it seems.

Porsche has previously set a goal to have EVs and plug-in hybrids account for half of company sales by 2025, with that percentage rising to 80% by 2030.

Sales of the Macan EV and the new-look Taycan are expected to drive an increase in their EV sales in 2025.

If drivers buy a brand-new Macan, which costs $94,000, they can also receive two years of free charging.

The wildly popular junior SUV has gone all electric. The entry-level model is already for sale, and a very generous new offer allows new owners to charge their shiny new EV for free.

Mercedes plans to launch a high-performance sporty EV next year to finally compete with the Taycan, so Porsche will also face some competition.

The state-of-the-art EV features custom architecture known as AMG.EA, which prioritizes power and speed, will compete against the Audi E-Tron GT RS Performance and Taycan Turbo S.