Porsche is bracing for smaller profit gains in the future as the sports-car maker steps up spending on models and facilities, CEO Oliver Blume said. Porsche now has “many new products in the pipeline” to set the course for future growth, Oliver Blume told reporters on Monday. “Therefore it’s clear that we can no longer carry out major leaps on results,” he said.
Porsche will invest about 1 billion euros (USD1.12 billion) as it creates over 1,000 new jobs at its base in Zuffenhausen to make the brand’s first all-electric. Still, Porsche, the second-biggest contributor to parent Volkswagen Group’s profit, probably increased underlying earnings last year as sales of its sports cars and SUVs exceeded 200,000 units for the first time, powered by the Macan compact SUV.
“Porsche has delivered a great result,” Blume said, referring to the carmaker’s 2015 annual earnings due to be published on March 11. A year earlier, Porsche’s operating profit rose 16% to 2.72 billion euros, fueled by a 20% gain in sales to a record 187,000 cars on demand from the U.S. and China.
