James Kon
Porsche AG continued to accomplish unprecedented feats with four new records in the 2022 financial year, as group sales revenue amounted to EUR37.6 billion, corresponding to a growth of 13.6 per cent.
This was revealed during a press conference at the Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, recently.
The group recorded operating profit of EUR6.8 billion, exceeding the previous year’s figure by EUR1.5 billion (increase of 27.4 per cent).
Group deliveries and automotive net cash flow also reached all-time highs in 2022. The group operating return on sales rose from 16 per cent to 18 per cent.
Beside the financial feats, the sports car manufacturer is also pushing its strategy forward in modern luxury. Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG Oliver Blume said, “In difficult conditions, we achieved the strongest result in the history of Porsche. We were also able to offer our customers exciting new products. This is the result of a great team performance.”
Porsche AG has well-filled order books and delivered 309,884 vehicles to customers in the previous year, despite the effects of the war in Ukraine, the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, and global supply chain disruptions. This corresponds to an increase of 2.6 per cent compared to 2021. In the 2022 financial year, automotive net cashflow increased from EUR3.7 billion to EUR3.9 billion.
“Our success factors are improved price positioning, the strong product mix, the increase in vehicle sales, exchange rate effects, and our strict cost discipline,” said Deputy Chairman and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche AG Lutz Meschke.
The Porsche team continues to set high targets for the future. In 2023, the company started its ambitious Road to 20 programme, aiming for a group operating return on sales of more than 20 per cent in the long term, as a continuation of the Profitability Programme 2025, with which Porsche made itself more resistant to crises.
The sports car manufacturer also heralded a new era on September 29, 2022, with the biggest IPO in Europe in terms of market capitalisation.
“We can now become even more focussed and pick up even more speed,” Meschke said.
“The newly attained autonomy gives us additional entrepreneurial freedom. We will strengthen specific capabilities in key areas such as software and battery technology.”
Porsche also continues to push its strategy of modern luxury. According to the Luxury & Premium Report of the consulting firm Brand Finance, Porsche is the most valuable luxury brand in the world.
“We combine an outstanding product with a highly personal experience and a brand that takes responsibility within society,” said Oliver Blume.
“We will continue to focus on limited editions and expand our Sonderwunsch programme in the future. We want to accommodate the desires and lifestyle of our customers even more, exceeding their expectations time and again.”
Porsche is also looking to continue with its ambitious electrification strategy with the all-electric Macan available to customers in 2024.
The all-electric 718 is planned for the middle of the decade. In the medium term it will only be available as an all-electric model.
It will be followed by the all-electric Cayenne. The fourth generation of the SUV will underline Porsche’s goal of delivering more than 80 per cent of its new vehicles as all-electric models in 2030.
Porsche is also planning to expand its product portfolio upwards with an all-electric SUV positioned above the Cayenne.
The new vehicle concept is designed to offer strong performance and automated driving functions with the typical Porsche flyline, along with a completely new experience inside the vehicle. This will be based on the platform SSP Sport developed by Porsche.
“We are underlining and strengthening our sporty luxury positioning. We are observing growing profit pools in this segment, in particular in China and the United States,” said Blume.
In 2023, the Cayenne is set to undergo one of the most comprehensive upgrades in the history of Porsche.
The updates to the third-generation model include three further-developed plug-in hybrids with greater ranges. Thanks to a new chassis, there will also be a wider breadth of abilities, balancing the on-road performance for which Porsche is famous, long-distance comfort and off-road capability.
Porsche has also set ambitious sustainability targets. The company is working towards a net carbon neutral value chain for its vehicles in 2030. This includes a net carbon-neutral use phase for future BEV models (based on an assumed total mileage of 200,000 kilometres per vehicle).
In 2022, Porsche also set up an e-fuels pilot plant with partners in Chile. Production has been running since December.
“With this, we have demonstrated that e-fuels can be produced on an industrial scale,” said Blume.
