Porsche promises new 911s - and more engines
Porsche says it stands by all its EV decisions - but gives itself plenty of wiggle room for the future...
It can seem like there are fewer reliable points of reference in the car world than ever before. But some things seem guaranteed forever, and one of those will be excitement around limited edition Porsche 911s. Think of the furore around recent S/Ts, Rs, Sport Classics and so on - which is to say nothing of the air-cooled classics. So Porsche is going to make more of them. As part of its financial results release (more on which in a sec), it confirmed that we can anticipate ‘further highly emotive derivatives, especially of the 911.’
It’s been a little while since we’ve had a GT2 of any kind, so that would feel like the most obvious contender for a reboot - and would certainly align with the ‘high-yield and exciting limited-edition’ criteria that Porsche says the new 911s will adhere to. But we might be waiting a little while on that, Porsche suggesting that an ‘additional flagship model’ is coming in the medium term. More immediately we can expect a 1970s-themed 911, the third of four - after the Heritage Design Edition Targa and Sport Classic - from the Heritage Design Strategy.
It was a decade of very special 911s, of course, from Turbo to 2.7 RS, so hopes are high for that one whenever it arrives. At the same time - and at just the right time, it might be said - Porsche is extending its personalisation possibilities. So expect some very funky specs of whatever the next super 911s are. Since just the start of this decade, the average revenue of a Porsche with Exclusive Manufaktur options has doubled. Doubled! So that’s why there’s more scope for ‘almost anything that a customer could wish for’.
As for Porsche’s other dedicated sports car, the electric 718 renewal continues apace. Any suggestion that the Boxster and Cayman could follow the Macan’s lead and continue with a combustion engine alongside the battery-powered one remains nothing more than that. Porsche says the ‘all-electric sports cars in the 718 segment’ will follow the electric Cayenne, which surely can’t be very far away.
The Porsche SUV line-up is where things begin to get a bit more challenging; it’s simply too lucrative a segment - the Cayenne enjoyed a record year in 2024 - to drop the ball. So it’s going to cover every single base possible. There will be battery-powered and fossil-fuelled Cayennes well into the 2030s; for the moment, the Macan exists as an EV and with petrol power in its previous format, though the latter is being phased out over time.
But that won't be the end of a combustion-powered SUV beneath the Cayenne; Porsche is said to be ‘currently evaluating an independent model line in the SUV segment with combustion and hybrid powertrain’. That will almost certainly arrive before the decade is out (for 'evaluating' read: developing as quickly as possible), and will doubtless benefit from all that has been learnt in selling just about every possible SUV engine configuration, from a Golf GTI 2.0-litre in a Macan to sharing an Urus V8 hybrid setup in the Cayenne. Ultimately, of course, the decision reflects the reality of the market: anyone who wants a Porsche SUV is eventually going to have a comprehensive choice - be it small, large, petrol, hybrid or electric.
As for actual sales in 2024, it says a lot about Porsche’s towering recent performance that 5.6 billion euros of profit (£4.7bn at current rates) is a significant drop. For 2023 that number was €7.3bn, so the fall was 22 per cent. Fewer cars were sold in 2024 compared to 2023 (310,718 against 320,221), largely attributable to a slowing China. And there’ll be a reasonable amount of profit in 10,000 Porsches. Last year 27 per cent of Porsches sold were electric or hybrid; that number is expected to climb in 2025 to between 33 and 35 per cent as Porsche invests an extra 800 million euros in, amongst other things, ‘software and battery activities’.
It mentions ‘rescaling’ also, which is a polite way of saying some jobs will go to benefit efficiency. Porsche reckons that around 1,900 positions will be lost by 2029, plus the expiration (and no subsequent replacement) of 2,000 fixed-term contracts. The former will be achieved through partial retirement measures, natural turnover and some redundancies. It’s part of a wider Road to 20 performance programme, which is the aim of a return on sales of more than 20 per cent. For 2023 it was 18 per cent, and last year 14.1.
New Porsche Chief Financial Officer Jochen Breckner said of the results: “Porsche has proven in 2024 that we operate highly profitably even in challenging times. In the long term, we remain committed to our fundamental goal of a Group operating return on sales of more than 20 per cent. In the medium term, we are aiming for 15 to 17 per cent due to the persistently challenging environment. We are consciously setting out on a comprehensive recalibration and sustainably strengthening Porsche for the future.” CEO Oliver Blume added that a “clear goal” of “exciting our customers with our iconic sports cars” remains. Bring on those special 911s as soon as possible…
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
The engine note has already been strangled by the filters (compare the 991.2 to 992.1 for example) so people won't miss that.
Probably leave a few select models as ICE: GT3, GT3RS and maybe T or an equivalent cheaper model
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
On the other hand if you want to play the Porsche One-Upmanship Game the dealers will be more than happy to lighten your wallet
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
On the other hand if you want to play the Porsche One-Upmanship Game the dealers will be more than happy to lighten your wallet
Carrera 2
Carrera 4
Carrera 4S
Targa
Turbo
Turbo S
I'd be more than happy with a base model in Gentian Blue, silver alloys, light interior...
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
The Touring was beautiful, the Turbo S the worst aesthetically. But even the owners struggled to detail where they were pitched to a former 911 S owner.
Now, besides having to deal with the normal challenges of fluctuating demand due to economic cycles, they somehow have to try and predict how legislation is going to change and how that affects their drivetrain development which can become hugely expensive if you get it wrong. And there is massive divergence between various markets as to where the legislation is going, with North America probably going on a totally different path to, say, Europe.
Given that most of this seems to be in a constant state of flux and then overlay this with the new threats of tariffs and trade wars and you can start to understand why they have many sleepless nights....
te they do. 
. VW's marketing prior to interest rate increases that they'd be sending Porsche all EV early doors in a handful of markets was always PR bulls
t just like their 'eFuels for peasants' ste. Now their PR department is spinning in the other direction as required to get their bonds shifted at the best price. VW and the others will just keep flip flopping up to and over 2035 using the PR divisions to just pump out what punters and investors want to hear that month. Beyond all that spin and the emotional rollercoaster it'll be keeping the poor muppets trapped on, it'll hopefully mean more ICE sports cars being sold in the U.K. up to 2035 which means more to choose from over the next 20-30 years for using when we don't want to use an EV.
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
The Touring was beautiful, the Turbo S the worst aesthetically. But even the owners struggled to detail where they were pitched to a former 911 S owner.
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
On the other hand if you want to play the Porsche One-Upmanship Game the dealers will be more than happy to lighten your wallet
It’s not like when the halo model is amazing to drive compared to the base model like a ford fiesta, they’re all good
Im convinced a 911 convertible 4 wheel drive in guards red with a light interior and adaptive cruise control, matrix leds and Bose is the only car you would ever need.
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
The Touring was beautiful, the Turbo S the worst aesthetically. But even the owners struggled to detail where they were pitched to a former 911 S owner.
And this was Marcus Rashford leaving:
They will likely lose more sales in China, because the Chinese market is swinging harder and harder behind EVs, and in particular, their own EVs. But in addition, the US is likely to hit porsche with tariffs, which wont help sell more cars. I suspect they will face further headwinds in 2025 than 2024.
Now, the bigger issue, as if thats not enough, is that the VAG are in big trouble. We may well see internal conflict around resources among the group, given the massive debt VAG hold (around $200 BILLION - the second most indebted company in the world, behind only Toyota at around $205 BILLION). On top of this, there are factory closures in Germany to contend with, and militant unions who want their workers to be paid quite a bit more than workers in other countries. This will likely see yet more factory closures. And to top it off, Audi are being debadged in China from the factory; the 4 rings are to disappear, because Chinese consumers see the brand as stale, old, and behind the competition technically. The next year or two will be interesting to say the least (and I see the Nissan CEO has just been fired, given that the brand is near worthless now, and about to fold).
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
Apparently selling Porsche stuff to semi-retired buyers is much like buying stuff in Roblox for teenagers.
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
Variants lower down the range look a whole lot better than ones costing twice as much, and there only appears to be minimal performance differences for the real world between them all as well.
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