Porsche’s Electric Snap Back

The newsletter for those committed to keeping driving alive by Larry Webster

NEVER STOP DRIVING The newsletter for those committed to keeping driving alive. by Larry Webster • 10/31/2025 Porsche is bleeding. According to Reuters, the German automaker posted a $1.1 billion loss in the third quarter. The company also said that sales in China are likely to continue their slide and that a new CEO, Michael Leiters, will take the reins this January. Talk about a stunning reversal. Porsche’s stock price is at its lowest level since the company went public in 2022. In all the handwringing and Monday-morning quarterbacking over this downfall, most people are pointing the finger at Porsche’s overly aggressive push to electrify its lineup. More than five years ago, Porsche declared that 50% of its cars could be either fully electric or hybrid by 2025. This year the Macan joined the Taycan in Porsche’s EV lineup and this month Porsche produced the final gasoline-powered versions of the 718 Cayman and Boxster, its entry-level sports cars, to make room for electrified versions. When Porsche CEO Oliver Blume explained the electrification push back in 2020, he reassured the faithful that Porsche would always offer combustion engines, particularly in the flagship 911. The seismic shift in Porsche’s product plans required significant investment and years for those investments to bear fruit. Wouldn’t you know it, the revised lineup was starting to hit the market right around the time of the last U.S. presidential election. Oh, boy, how the world has changed over the past 12 months. With the U.S. government’s EV subsidies expiring and China’s burgeoning car companies improving faster than most expected, demand for EVs from Porsche, and from many other automakers, began to fall. It seems like the real EV demand wasn’t as strong as rosy projections suggested. The net effect is that Porsche announced this summer that it was walking back its EV plans and would reinvest in internal-combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid powertrains. The company is also scaling back some of its factory racing programs. Perhaps Porsche should have been more cautious with its EV rollout, but the company is relatively small and assembles only about 250,000 cars per year, so it couldn’t afford to cover all its bases. Five years ago, it had to make a bet and, despite my own personal misgivings, that bet made sense at the time. After all, some three quarters of Porsches sold today are SUVs—everyday cars. The winds certainly seemed to be blowing in the EV direction. Some of Porsche’s best eras emerged from crises. Nearly 50 years ago, the company planned to replace the 911 with the front-engined 928 and 924, but the transition went poorly. Porsche then hired American Peter Schutz as CEO, and he quickly identified low morale over the 911’s impending demise. The previous senior management had decided the 911 had come to its natural end, but the customers and rank-and-file employees did not agree. Nor did Schutz, who reinstated the 911. Yes, an American saved the Porsche 911 from the scrap heap. Incoming CEO Michael Leiters has experience with struggling sports car companies. He started at McLaren in July 2022 but stepped down earlier this year after the sports car division, not the McLaren F1 team, merged with an EV startup called Forseven. Don’t ask me to explain that. I have, however, spent time with Leiters, who previously worked at Porsche and Ferrari, and can confirm that he’s as passionate about cars and driving as we are. Good luck, Michael! Rock your weekend with the latest from Hagerty Media: Two buddies resurrect an Impala that came with a seized engine. Is this a sketch of the next Camaro? Lessons learned from owning a vintage Lotus Esprit. Honda’s Prelude returns. Have a terrific weekend! Larry Webster P.S.: Your feedback is very welcome. Comment here. Please share this newsletter with your car-obsessed friends and encourage them to sign up for the free weekly email. The easy-to-complete form is here. And if you’d like to support the efforts of Hagerty Media, please consider joining the Hagerty Drivers Club.   Advertisement You’re receiving this newsletter because we think you believe in Hagerty’s mission to preserve driving and car culture for future generations. We welcome the numerous benefits of potential autonomous vehicles—less congestion, better safety, etc—but work to ensure that we’ll also still be able to enjoy the open road. If you'd like to be removed from this list, follow the "Manage subscriptions" link below. Want more? Be part of the movement and join the Hagerty Drivers Club. Also, check out tons of free content and videos at Hagerty.com/media.

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