[opinion] - hmmm…VW/Audi/Porsche may be in trouble…

[Tooney]

Volkswagen Eyes Production Shift From Cars to Parts for Israel’s Iron Dome
German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen is reportedly planning to shift one of its factories from producing cars to manufacturing components for Israel’s Iron Dome.

According to sources quoted by the Financial Times, the company is in talks with Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems to possibly repurpose Volkswagen’s Osnabrück plant, which is at risk of closing.

Volkswagen has been eyeing either to sell or revamp its Osnabrück site with around 2,300 employees, following the end of production contracts for its Porsche and T-Roc Cabriolet vehicles, and plunging profits arising from competition with Chinese electric vehicles.

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[whitex]

They are attempting to go where the demand is, as well as a good barrier to entry to the Chinese competitors (western countries don't want Chinese parts in the military industry).

 

[Fish Fingers]

So with used EV sales showing a sudden sharp increase due to fuel prices.

And new EV enquiries are also surging.

So are Porsche pivoting away from EVs just at the wrong time?
Should they have stuck with plan A all along, all electric bar the 911?

I bet there are some concerned faces watching this war and wondering where it's going after such a major backtracking on EVs.

 

[Mr.Smith]

So with used EV sales showing a sudden sharp increase due to fuel prices.

And new EV enquiries are also surging.

So are Porsche pivoting away from EVs just at the wrong time?
Should they have stuck with plan A all along, all electric bar the 911?

I bet there are some concerned faces watching this war and wondering where it's going after such a major backtracking on EVs.

Appliance EVs jumped in price by approximately 13% within a week after gas prices surged. We were looking at ID4s across the country at auctions, within a few days they were all sold.

I don't believe the average porsche buyer is affected by gas prices

 

[Tooney]

Volkswagen is recalling nearly 100,000 EVs over potential faulty battery modules

 

[69Mach390]

So with used EV sales showing a sudden sharp increase due to fuel prices.

And new EV enquiries are also surging.

So are Porsche pivoting away from EVs just at the wrong time?
Should they have stuck with plan A all along, all electric bar the 911?

I bet there are some concerned faces watching this war and wondering where it's going after such a major backtracking on EVs.

Gas prices are super fickle right now. The oil is there we just can’t get it at the moment. Expect prices to crash as soon as we can.

Don’t make any long term plans based on short term situations.

 

[Freeewilly]

When the market continue to go down, we'll start to see more high end vehicles sitting in the parking lot.

 

[tigerbalm]

So are Porsche pivoting away from EVs just at the wrong time?
Should they have stuck with plan A all along, all electric bar the 911?

I really don't think Porsche are pivoting away from EV's. You can buy two sizes of SUVs and a four door regular car from them as EVs today and at some stage their first two door sports car EV will get released.

What Porsche have said is that the transition to full BEV will take longer than they guided in 2019 and that people can continue to purchase hybrid and full petrol vehicles with confidence for the foreseeable.

They have even indicated that the 911 will likely go full BEV at some stage in the future, but that is well off and is not an active program at this time.

Supporting ICE engines for longer – is not reducing their commitment to EVs – it is just setting out a longer transition period.

When Porsche made the bolder EV claims in 2019 they were a business unit within VW – but now as a publicly traded* business they legally have to provide more guidance for their shareholders than previously – and I think that is going to expose the ups and downs in business trading conditions more to the public than would otherwise have happened.

We will continue to have click-bait media picking up their guidance and writing dramatic articles about Porsche's future that would not have happened pre-IPO. But that is on Porsche to navigate and a cost of going public.

----

* Appreciate its a relatively weak public offering. 25% of the company available in public shares and 5% of that taken up by Qatar in a private deal ahead of IPO. Public shares have no voting rights in exchange for higher access to dividends.

 

[whitex]

really don't think Porsche are pivoting away from EV's. You can buy two sizes of SUVs and a four door regular car from them as EVs today and at some stage their first two door sports car EV will get released.

What Porsche have said is that the transition to full BEV will take longer than they guided in 2019 and that people can continue to purchase hybrid and full petrol vehicles with confidence for the foreseeable.

You make a valid point. The question in my mind is, will they try to keep the EVs competitive in the automotive world, or are they just extracting value from their past investment? So for example, will there be active improvements in the EV lineup, or even maintenance of the existing EV line, or will they streamline the existing lineup, reduce the available options (perhaps even stop supporting existing customers with some options, like the Taycan 22kW OBC), while raising prices to extract maximum value from people willing to pay for the badge? If they want to continue their past strategy of exclusiveness, by limiting the production allocations, they really need to have the absolute best product for the price, or else people will just go elsewhere. I'm reminded of my own experience a while back (~2003), when I wanted to buy two BMW's, not even custom order, just spec loaded cars. Visited a few dealers, got a song an dance how maybe they could get me one, but will have to pay over sticker. So I went to a VW dealer and picked up a couple of Passats (a W8 and V6) instead, with a good negotiated discount and great financial terms too allowing me to borrow over MSRP at 0% (I wanted to melt in my upside down position of my 911C4 that lost over 50% of its MSRP in just 2 years). When I inquired about a Macan EV after they came out, I got the "no allocations" response. As I mentioned before, I'll likely be in the market for a couple of Cayenne EV's in a couple of years, but only if they make a reliable product, and don't make me jump through hoops trying to get allocations.

 

[Tooney]

Porsche filed a patent for hidden racing stripes
Porsche describes using the technology to indicate the car’s drive mode or charge status.
Porsche has filed a new patent for hidden racing stripes. The technology uses a film material, which the automaker describes as electronic paper or a paramagnetic coating, on the vehicle’s exterior that changes color when an electric voltage is applied.

The patent showcases several ways Porsche could use the technology, the most notable being for disappearing racing stripes. According to the German filing, the stripes could change color depending on the vehicle’s drive mode, like green for eco or red for sport—or they could completely disappear at the click of a button.

The images also show using the film for stripes behind the rear wheels and on the rear diffuser. The patent also describes using the technology on an electric vehicle to display the car’s charge status right on the exterior.

 

[PorscheTaycan]

They have even indicated that the 911 will likely go full BEV at some stage in the future, but that is well off and is not an active program at this time.

Waiting for the day…

 

[chun]

Waiting for the day…

The cayman EV has pretty much same siluete as a 911, so you can always go for that

Of course, it still has a bunch of plastic cladding to camouflage some of the shapes

 

[daveo4EV]

the only wrong with Porsche's EV products is their price…

this helps a bit - got this morning from my local dealer…

Hi [name],

For a limited time, enjoy an exclusive $7,500 dealer discount on the new Electric Porsche Macan and Taycan.

Experience Porsche’s signature performance—now fully electric—with thrilling acceleration, advanced technology, and unmistakable design.

Step into electric Porsche performance today

 

[Tooney]

'We Should Not Let Them Into Our Country': Ford CEO On Chinese EVs

"We should not let them into our country," he said. "Manufacturing is the heart and soul of our country. For us to lose that to those exports would be devastating for our country."
. . .
Farley echoed concerns we've heard before from the auto industry and U.S. government—under both the Biden and Trump administrations, I'll add. The thinking is that China has heavily subsidized its auto industry and created a glut of manufacturing capacity.
. . .
China has well over 100 companies that build electric cars. Many of those companies—like BYD and Xiaomi—are able to build cars cheaper than American manufacturers and, in many cases, with more features. This has unlocked an aggressive price war in China. Increasingly, those cars are spreading to Europe and Canada as both become more receptive to Chinese imports and as China's industry looks to new markets.

"Their local market is 29 million, their capacity in their country for making cars is over 50 million," said Farley. "They have enough capacity in China to cover all the manufacturing and all the vehicle sales in the United States."

 

[Tooney]

Porsche Confirms Gas Macan Is Ending Production This Summer Because Who Needs Cars That Sell?
Between the introduction of the new Macan Electric and *checks notes* European cybersecurity rules, we've known for a while that the gas-powered Porsche Macan would be ending production at some point soon. The end is now official, after CFO Jochen Breckner said production will be stopped this summer on a Wednesday earnings call, per Automotive News. The car is built in Leipzig, Germany, and Breckner says during that final month of production, "we will produce as much as we can."
. . .
From a macro business lens, the decision to pull the plug on the ICE Macan when a spiritual successor is still a couple of years out is a bit of a puzzling one. The company isn't doing so hot lately, posting a quarterly loss of $1.1 billion in Q3 2025 and recently giving up its stake in Rimac and Bugatti. Couple that with the current downturn in the demand for EVs, and right now may not be the best time to not have an entry-level, gas-powered, volume-selling crossover in your portfolio.

But I'm sure the folks who run Porsche are much smarter than I am, know what they're doing, and everything will turn out fine. Right?

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