Porsche mapping out long-term, value-driven strategy

Porsche is reaffirming its long-term strategy in the Chinese market, emphasizing brand value over short-term sales growth amid a complex and evolving luxury auto landscape.

Like most global car brands, the German sports carmaker saw its sales fall in China in 2025, faced with pressure from an increasingly competitive market and shifting consumer demand in the country's premium vehicle segment.

Porsche China CEO Alexander Pollich said the two-digit fall, which brought its retail sales to around 42,000 units in 2025, was in line with expectations.

He stressed that the company prioritizes a "value over volume" strategy to ensure that customers receive high-quality experiences and the brand's identity remains uncompromised. "For us, it's clearly more important to protect the core values of the brand than chasing the last units," Pollich said.

Looking ahead, Porsche is maintaining a cautious but confident outlook for China in 2026, due to lower consumer confidence and the newly adjusted luxury car tax threshold, which will affect Porsche buyers.

"It's really important this year, as it was last year, to balance demand and supply, to make sure we have a great product lineup and a fantastic customer experience, and we also maintain a profitable business model for Porsche," Pollich said.

In terms of products, Porsche has a three-pronged approach of offering iconic combustion engine cars, efficient plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles.

With the four-door Taycan, Porsche is the pioneer of e-mobility in the upper market segment. Porsche is rolling out its new all-electric Cayenne SUV at the Beijing auto show later this year, and it is going to launch the electric 718 sports car.

Meanwhile, the carmaker has hailed its "great decision" to continue research and development of new combustion engine models, with SUVs in the B and D segment in the pipeline.

The carmaker is also stepping up to tailor its offerings to Chinese tastes. China-specific infotainment and other technologies are being developed in collaboration with domestic partners like Pateo.

"Our R&D center has worked very hard on this new China-only infotainment system, and this will come (in the) middle of this year, which will be in the electric cars, but also in the Cayenne, Panamera and 911."

Optimizing the dealer network is another pillar of Porsche's China strategy. From 150 points of sale at the end of 2024, the network was reduced to 114 by December 2025, with a target of around 80 by 2026.

"If the cake is smaller, you cannot invite as many guests to the table, so some strategic alignment has to be made," Pollich explained, emphasizing the balance between market coverage and service quality.

Porsche aims to maintain coverage in major cities, ensuring that premium service standards remain consistent across the market. "We are making good progress," he said.

When asked about the carmaker's mid-to-long-term development plan in China, Pollich said: "This is not a sprint, this is a marathon."

"This is really an endurance race, and you need to have a long breath and a very good team to really prevail.

"You know you have ups and downs, but you need to make sure that you have the finish line in you, and that you are patient and really make the right decisions to achieve your goals," Pollich said.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn