Porsche

Porsche AG is a German automotive group. It specializes in the production of sports cars and SUVs, design services and financial operations.

The company's headquarters and factory is located in Stuttgart.

It is the most profitable automotive company in the world (in terms of profit from each car sold). In 2010, Porsche cars were recognized as the most reliable in the world.

History

2024

Recall of millions of cars with defective airbags

On July 31, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration USA (NHTSA) announced that more than 50 million cars of different brands can be equipped with defective airbags, which in the event of a traffic accident can cause serious harm to the health of the driver and passengers or even provoke their death. Defective products were marketed by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive Systems. More here

Decline in sales in China by 33% in the first half of the year

Investing in Peripheral Computing Developer Zededa

In February 2024, it became known about investing $72 million in Zededa. The funding round was led by Smith Point Capital, a venture capital fund created by former Salesforce CEO Keith Block. Read more here.

2022

Going public with an estimate of $75.2 billion

On September 29, 2022, Porsche held an IPO. Its shares were floated on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. On the first day of trading, the market capitalization of the car manufacturer reached $75.2 billion. At the beginning of trading, Porsche securities rose to 84 euros per share, exceeding the offering price of 82.5 euros.

Porsche placed almost 114 million preferred shares at 82.5 euros, managing to raise about 9.4 billion euros. The IPO became the largest in Europe after the placement of shares of Glencore Plc in the amount of about $10 billion, held in 2011.

Porsche CEO Oliver Blum (R) and CFO Lutz Meschke during the IPO

Only preferred shares that do not grant voting rights were sold to investors in the IPO. Preferred shares are listed under the ticker symbol P911 (it refers to the name of the iconic Porsche 911 car model).

According to experts at the end of September 2022, by conducting an IPO of its most profitable company - Porsche accounts for about a quarter of the operating profit of the entire group - VW Group wants, among other things, to try to repeat the successful placement of Ferrari in 2015. At the same time, the IPO takes place during a period of high instability of stock markets in the context of geopolitical and economic risks. Shares of most companies have declined in the past few months, including other luxury car manufacturers: Aston Martin, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes-Benz.

After conducting an IPO, Porsche entered the top five by capitalization of automakers in the world, overtaking Mercedes-Benz (58 billion euros) and BMW (47 billion euros). The cost of the company by September 29, 2022 turned out to be close to the capitalization of the parent concern Volkswagen (86 billion euros). Porsche investors were sovereign wealth funds in Norway, Qatar and the UAE, as well as investment company T.Rowe Price.^[1]

Thousands of Porsche cars burned on ship in Atlantic

On February 16, 2022, a 200-meter-long Felicity Ace caught fire in the North Atlantic when the ship was carrying cargo, including 4,000 premium Porsche, Bentley and Volkswagen cars. The flight was designed to extend the sea route from Emden, Germany to Davisville, United States. Read more here.

2021

11% increase in car sales, to 301,915 units

Porsche's annual global car sales in 2021 exceeded the 300,000 mark for the first time. The automaker overcame a shortage of chips to meet growing global demand for its vehicles, especially plug-in hybrid models.

Deliveries of Porsche cars increased by 11% over the year, to 301,915 units. Porsche's previous record annual sales in 2019 were 280,800 vehicles. Europe accounted for 86,160 deliveries in 2021, up from 80,892 in 2020. In America, an increase of 22% was recorded - from 69,629 cars to 84,657. In the Asia-Pacific region, shipments rose 8%, from 121,641 vehicles to 131,098.

Porsche updates 2021 car sales record of 301,915

The all-electric Taycan sedan beat the iconic 911 sports car in sales for the first time with 41,296 deliveries, up 106% from the previous figure. The company sold 38,464 911 units, a 12% increase.

Porsche's best-selling car was the Macan SUV, selling 88,362 units, followed by the larger Cayenne SUV, selling 83,071 units. Panamera cars sold 30,220 units in a year.

We are starting 2022 full of strength and confidence in all regions of the world, "said Detlev von Platen, head of sales and marketing at Porsche.

He said the brand plans to remain exclusive despite record sales.

Unit sales are not a decisive factor for us, "he said. - Rather, we want to advocate for exclusive and unique experience with clients.

In Europe, 40% of Porsche cars sold in 2021 were either fully electric or hybrid. The chip crisis boosted luxury brand sales as parent companies shifted chip distribution to higher-margin models.^[2]

Purchase of a stake in the developer of launch vehicles for the transportation of satellites Isar Aerospace Technologies

At the end of July 2021, Porsche bought a stake in Isar Aerospace Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of launch vehicles for transporting satellites. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is known that as part of the new round of financing, the startup raised about $75 million. In total, the startup raised more than $180 million from investors such as HV Capital, Lakestar, Earlybird and Airbus Ventures. Read more here.

Create a joint venture with Rimac for the production of hypercars

In early July 2021, Porsche and the Croatian manufacturer electric cars Rimac announced the creation of a joint venture, which will include the French manufacturer. Bugatti The new company will be named. Bugatti-Rimac More. here

Investing in Croatian electric car maker Rimac

In mid-March 2021, Porsche announced that it had invested in Croatian electric car maker Rimac. Thanks to the latest investment of 70 million euros, Porsche's stake in the company reached 24%. Read more here.

2019: €535m fine for using software that underestimates emissions

On May 7, 2019, the prosecutor's office of the city of Stuttgart announced the imposition of a fine on Porsche in the amount of 535 million euros for the use of software that allows to underestimate the amount of harmful emissions from cars with diesel engines. The automaker did not appeal this decision in court and agreed to pay the indicated amount.

According to Reuters, according to the results of the prosecutor's audit, it turned out that the Porsche design department neglected legal obligations and committed a number of violations that ultimately led to the sale of diesel cars with excessive levels of environmental pollution. We are talking about cars with V6 and V8 engines, which have been produced since 2009.

Porsche fined €0.5bn for using software that understates emissions

Porsche itself never developed or produced diesel engines, but used Audi engines, and the company's managers failed to ensure sufficient control of emissions.

The €535 million Porsche will have to pay included a €4 million fine for negligence and €531 million for obtaining unreasonable economic benefit. The company has created a provision for possible payments, although they will be taken into account in the financial statements for the second quarter of 2019.

Volkswagen, which includes Porsche, was at the center of a scandal with falsification of the volume of harmful emissions of diesel engines in September 2015. By May 2019, the auto giant had paid about 30 billion euros in fines for the so-called "dieselgate." Audi, which is also part of Volkswagen, was fined 800 million euros in October 2018 for falsifying data on the toxicity of its vehicles.

In April 2019, the prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, Germany, charged five participants in the "diesel scandal," including the ex-chairman of the board of Volkswagen carmaker Martin Winterkorn.^[3]

2018: Investment in Swiss-Russian developer of AR solutions for WayRay cars

September 18, 2018 it became known about the attraction of WayRay investments in the amount of $80 million. The financial deal headed by Porsche was attended by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) together with a consortium of sovereign wealth funds (Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain), including the Russian-Japanese Investment Fund (created by RDIF and JBIC), as well as Hyundai Motor, Alibaba Group, AFK Sistema, China Merchants Capital funds and JVC Kenwood. Read more here.

2017: Competition for blockchain startups

In April 2017, Porsche announced a competition for startups developing blockchain technologies. The winners will not only receive a cash prize, but will also be able to take part in the technological projects of the German manufacturer of premium cars.

Porsche will accept applications to participate in the competition until May 15, 2017. The terms of the competition are not specified.

Porsche dealership in the United States

The prize fund of the tournament is 25 thousand euros. In addition, the developers who won the competition will be able to work for three months in the business accelerator for startups SpinLab, which is located in Leipzig near the Porsche plant. In the future, it is also possible to attract startups to create blockchain technologies for the needs of the automaker.

The competition held by Porsche shows the company's interest in blockchain, and the manufacturer considers the purpose of the event to study the potential for the practical use of this technology.

Porsche aims to gain comprehensive information about the potential of blockchain and transactions based on it. The main question is how justified the use of this technology is in the value chain. Other forms of potential long-term cooperation will be explored, the company said in a statement.

It's worth noting that Porsche isn't the first car company to decide to do blockchain research. In February 2017, the German concern Daimler AG announced its accession to the Hyperledger blockchain project. Then the company called the technology "promising" and "continuously growing," but "not yet fully mature."^[4]

The 1970th

Porsche 911 in the service of the Soviet traffic police

Notes