Underlying financials at Porsche remain weak as it is unable to counter Great Recession effects.
Sales of Porsche AG fell 40% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009/2010 as only 11,385 vehicles were sold.
The Panamera sedan during the first few months of introduction sold 2,973 vehicles, making it the second most popular vehicle in the line after the Cayenne sport utility vehicle, which tallied 4,095, down 57% from the year earlier period.
Thus, the fabled sports and race car maker is now largely a sedan and truck company by volume.
In the period from 1 August 2009 to 31 October 2009, sales of the 911 dropped 64% to 2,600 vehicles. Sales of vehicles from the Boxster model series, including Cayman, dropped 13.5% to 1,717 vehicles.
Porsche is now largely a sedan and truck maker by volume, although 911 margins remain good.
In home country Germany, sales of Porsche decreased from 1 August 2009 to 31 October 2009 by 34% to 1,544 units, while in North America the 3,995 vehicles sold represented a drop of 51%.
In all other regions of the world, Porsche sold 5,846 units in the first three months of the current fiscal year, 31% fewer than in prior year.
During the quarter, Porsche reduced production by 11.9%. A total of 20,009 vehicles rolled off the line at Porsche’s three locations.
In Leipzig, 8,160 units of the Cayenne series were built, 32.6% fewer vehicles than in the same period of the prior fiscal year. The new Panamera, which has been on sale since September 2009, rolled off the line 5,205 times. The 4,197 vehicles of the 911 series produced at the Zuffenhausen plant represented a drop of 49.0%. Production of the Boxster series increased 5.9% to 2,447 units. In Finland, the number of vehicles produced fell by 28.1% to 1,662 units. Since February 2009, the Boxster models have been partly manufactured in Zuffenhausen.
At the Zuffenhausen plant, working hours were reduced, the first time in decades. The 2,300 employees also will not work 16 days in upcoming months.
Overall Porsche employment at 12,700 was basically flat when compared with a year earlier.
The revenue of the Porsche group continued drop as the Great Recession and financial crisis goes on, falling 35 to €1.1 billion ($1.6 billion).
In the Porsche group, in the process of being swallowed by Volkswagen subgroup, the profit in the first three months of the 2009/10 fiscal year was – like revenue and unit sales – below the prior-year level. In the first three months of the 2009/10 fiscal year, the profit before tax decreased from €3.2 billion ($4.6 billion) to minus €0.2 billion (-$300 million).
In November, Porsche SE reported it lost (-€4.4) billion before taxes for the business year 2008/09, or operations for August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009. Net loss was (-€2.52) billion for the 12 months.
The Porsche subgroup expects sales to increase slightly sometime in 2010 because of the new sedan. By 30 November, the new Panamera had already sold a total of 4,792 vehicles, and total production is now above 10,000 of the four-door.