Porsche, Volkswagen Group’s most recent acquisition, fits like a perfectly formed cog into the gears of VW’s ambition to become the world’s largest and most profitable automaker. The German sports-car purveyor recently reported a first half operating profit increase of 59 percent on the strength of Cayenne sales and Chinese expansion, providing what must surely be an agreeable boost to VW’s bottom line.
Porsche’s pre-tax and interest earnings climbed to 1.07 billion euros from 675 million a year earlier, while revenue rose 19 percent to 5.22 billion euros. Fueling the increase were 28,000 Cayenne sales in the first half, more than double the number sold during the first half of 2010.
Chinese sales also factored heavily into Porsche’s financial equation, with the world’s most populous country snapping up 11,712 of the brand’s vehicles, an increase of 47 percent. US volume rose by 25 percent to 15,466 units.
Porsche is targeting global sales of 100,000 for this year, compared to 97,000 in 2010. It is also hoping to double deliveries to a minimum of 200,000 sports cars, sedans and SUVs by 2018 as the brand continues to enter new market segments and expand in emerging markets.
References
1.’Porsche first-half profit…’ view
