STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - The situation for sports car manufacturer Porsche in China worsened once again last year. In 2025, the Swabian automaker sold just over 41,900 vehicles in the country. That represents a drop of around 26 percent compared to the previous year, the company announced on Friday in Stuttgart. This marks the fourth consecutive decline. For comparison: in 2021, Porsche had delivered nearly 95,700 sports cars and SUVs in the People's Republic.

Porsche cited challenging market conditions and fierce competition, especially among electric models, as key reasons for the renewed decline in China. Former Porsche CEO Oliver Blume had repeatedly emphasized last year that the market for luxury goods in the People's Republic had virtually collapsed. Shortly before stepping down, he did not expect any growth.

One of the reasons for this is the reluctance to buy among wealthy Chinese, whose finances have been impacted by the real estate crisis. Since the beginning of January, Michael Leiters has been the new CEO of Porsche, with Blume now focusing on leading parent company Volkswagen.

Declines Across Nearly All Global Regions

Things are not going smoothly for Porsche in other global regions either: after China, the company saw the sharpest declines in its home market of Germany (down 16 percent) and the rest of Europe (down 13 percent). In overseas and growth markets—including Africa, Latin America, Australia, Japan, and Korea—the Swabians also recorded a slight decrease. The bright spot: in the largest sales region, North America, figures remained nearly unchanged from the previous year with around 86,200 deliveries.

The bottom line: Porsche sold around 279,400 sports cars and SUVs last year—a tenth less than in 2024. Nearly half of the decline can be attributed to weakness in China. Already in 2024, total sales had dropped by three percent to about 310,700.

"After several record years, our deliveries in 2025 are below the previous year's level. This development is in line with our expectations," said Sales Director Matthias Becker. This trend, in addition to weaker demand for exclusive products in China, was also due to supply gaps in certain models.

Macan Takes the Lead

The Zuffenhausen-based company refreshed several model lines in 2024. The compact SUV Macan was the best-selling model last year. The VW subsidiary delivered just over 84,300 units—an increase of two percent. More than half were the fully electric variant. The iconic 911 sports car also saw a slight increase to nearly 51,600 vehicles, which the company described as a delivery record.

All other models saw declines—including the 718, the Panamera, and the fully electric Taycan. The previously top-selling model, the Cayenne SUV, suffered a 21 percent drop in sales. Purely electric vehicles accounted for 22.2 percent of Porsche sales.

Becker: Planning Volumes "Realistically"

Looking ahead to the current year, Becker remained cautious: in light of the production phase-out of the 718 and combustion-engine Macan, the company is planning its volumes "realistically." Production is ending in part due to cybersecurity regulations. There are no direct successors. An electric version of the Cayman and Boxster is in development but delayed. Porsche fans will likely have to wait even longer for a new combustion-engine model in the Macan segment. In 2025, Porsche gradually announced, contrary to original plans, that it would once again focus more on combustion engines and delay electric models./jwe/DP/men