Porsche confirms new strategy - and a supercar

Want more crowd-pleasing 911s and fewer EVs? Porsche bends to will of the people with Sportwagenschmiede 35

By Matt Bird / Wednesday, 7 October 2026 / Loading comments

Fair to say it’s been a tough couple of years at Porsche, with dwindling profits, falling EV sales and the ongoing 718 saga. Michael Leiters was brought in as Chairman to help steady the ship, and now we have his medium-term vision for getting Porsche back on track: ‘Sportwagenschmiede '35’, which translates as ‘Sports Car Workshop ‘35’. It’s as comprehensive as might be expected given Porsche’s predicament, aiming to ‘further sharpen and expand its sports car identity with new products and technologies.’ So expect more new cars, more special editions, more personalisation and, all being well, more money made for Porsche.

Albeit with fewer people - that’s the bad news. A Future Package (surely related to the VW Future 2030 plan) will see a ‘socially responsible reduction of 9,000 jobs’. We’ll need someone from HR to explain what a socially responsible job loss is, but the process has been agreed by union reps and includes ‘a commitment to secure the jobs of the core workforce until 2035.’ Which is less than a decade away, although given the rate of change in the industry right now it feels a long way in the future. Efficiencies have already been made, remember, with the sale of Bugatti Rimac shares; Porsche will also sell the MHP consulting division, plus shutter eBike Performance, Cetitec and Cellforce Group.

The Future Package will see management positions shrink by 40 per cent in the medium term, the workforce ‘in both direct and indirect functions’ reduced by a quarter, and with around 10 per cent taken off the overall personnel cost. Streamlining middle management aims to make Porsche ‘more agile and effective.’ If a decision has to be signed off by fewer people, it can be made more swiftly. And speed feels very much like the name of the game right now. A share programme is also coming for employees in 2028. Nothing like making you work hard for Porsche when there’s an additional financial incentive.

2028 is also going to be a big year for new Porsches under the Sportwagenschmiede ‘35 initiative, with the 718 EVs in their first full year of production. A new B-segment SUV is coming alongside the Macan Electric, too, with petrol and PHEV power. Porsche says that model is ‘expected to make a noticeable contribution to sales and profitability in 2029.’ You don’t say - no combustion Macan in the lineup for key markets has really hurt Porsche. And the (very) old car outselling the EV has made the customers’ preference abundantly clear. The new one can’t come soon enough.

After that we will get new options ‘primarily in the particularly high margin D and E segments’, and plenty of ‘em: Porsche wants its range to comprise about 45 per cent D- and E-segment in the medium term. So expect more 911s with gold bits and manual gearboxes, more cars coming from the Audi PPE (electric) and PPC (combustion) architectures, and a mid-engined supercar above the 911. Rumoured for a long time, the ‘development of a mid-engined super sports car platform’ has been confirmed. Just as importantly, the potential of an SUV above the Cayenne is also still being explored. There’s the Audi Q9 right there, after all…

However the Porsche product portfolio eventually looks, common themes will run through all of them. The nice ones for marketing - ‘emphasising the DNA of the 911 even more strongly across all model lines - as well as those that actually make money. ‘Value over volume’ is a phrase used a lot at the moment. So there’s going to be 20 per cent fewer variants in each model line (best get your Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo now) as well as a drive to both save development costs and sell each unit at a higher price. Buckle up, because we’re really only just getting started.

If you thought that four-seat GT3s, coloured air vents and personalised sill plates were a lot, then there’s plenty more where that came from. There will be ‘expanded individualisation options’ going forward, with Sonderwunsch given a much more prominent role (they want sales up sixfold!) alongside Exclusive Manufaktur and the Heritage-branded machines. And if that sounds a little bit too focused on Pepita rather than performance, Sportwagenschmiede ‘35 (you’ll get the spelling eventually) had also seen Porsche increase its stake in Manthey to 67 per cent. So expect more wild limited editions like the 25, track experiences and performance kits - we’ve had a Manthey Taycan, so surely nothing is off limits…

The intention of all this is to bump the average selling price of flagship Porsches - Turbos and GTs, presumably - by a figure in the region of 20 per cent while also being ‘underpinned by corresponding product substance’. It isn’t just asking more money for the same cars. Still, 20 per cent on something like a GT3 - which can already be specced to £200k fairly easily - promises to help the bottom line a fair bit given their popularity. Especially when combined with the streamlining in the production process. Reducing the number of variants offered will help, but a reduction in development costs for future cars of up to 20 per cent will be the big one. New Porsches will be created and made in less time, put most simply, thanks to expanded internal capacities and a ‘more modular development process’. Pure combustion, hybrid and electric powertrains will continue, the three-pronged approach set to bring ‘brand-defining combustion engine/PHEV drives as well as the next generation of battery technology’.

Material costs will be reduced thanks to more parts sharing - also known as ‘increasing synergies within the partner and group network’ - while also aiming to enhance the perceived quality of the cars. Which sounds tricky to say the least, especially given some new Porsches have already felt less sturdy than their predecessors. The ambition is definitely there at least with Sportwagenschmiede, and the shake-up was needed.

All this is to help move the Porsche break-even point below 200,000 units; i.e. make more from each car and then not as many need to be sold. Particularly if it costs less to make and sell them; as far as the latter is concerned, sales regions will be reduced from five to four, with ‘efficiency improvements’ - which sounds like job losses again - coming for distribution and sales. No part of the business is going to be unaffected by the sounds of it as Porsche aims to get out of this rut - it’ll be packed lunches and flasks to the office soon.

Medium term, Porsche wants operating return on sales of 10 to 15 per cent and ‘an Automotive net cash flow margin of 9 to 12 per cent’. Long term, the aim is for 15 per cent on the former and 12 per cent on the latter. Higher value creation per car means ‘cash generation is expected to increase at a disproportionate rate.’ Their words, not ours. So don’t be surprised if a few weird and wonderful Sonderwunsch 911s make it to the homepage sooner rather than later - there’s money to be made.

“We are pursuing a clear plan with our strategy Sportwagenschmiede '35. The ultimate goal is to further strengthen our unique sports car brand – across all model lines and with new, highly desirable models in particularly high-margin segments,” said Leiters. “Our strategy will lay the groundwork to make Porsche significantly more efficient, productive and profitable in three phases. At the moment, the main focus is on reducing costs and making the company more financially robust. We have already achieved some important milestones.”