Porsche AG

Mercedes-Benz Group AG sold only 1,153 units in China in the first half of 2026, a fraction of the more than 80,000 similarly priced SU7 sedans that Xiaomi Corp. delivered in the same period. The performance echoes the challenges faced by BMW AG, Volkswagen AG, and Porsche AG in China, where all reported second-quarter sales declines of at least 30%, worse than the overall market's drop.

US stock indexes ended the week higher as a global rally in semiconductor stocks and renewed optimism over the artificial intelligence trade lifted investor sentiment. Out of the 158 S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this week, 132 beat EPS estimates and 123 surpassed revenue expectations. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the fifth consecutive meeting, while crude oil prices pulled back toward $85 per barrel following a pause in military escalation between the US and Iran. European equities ended the week 0.7% higher, with the Eurozone seeing stronger-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter but inflation remaining above the European Central Bank's target. The Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged, and the Bank of Japan held its key short-term rate at 1.0%, the highest since September 1995. In corporate news, Porsche plans to cut around one in five jobs by 2035, Deutsche Bank announced a new €500 million stock buyback, UBS unveiled a $3 billion share repurchase program, and Rolls-Royce raised its full-year profit forecast after a 46% jump in first-half operating profit. China's business activity unexpectedly contracted across both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors in July 2026, while an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan's southern Kumamoto Prefecture.

Yahoo Finance Senior Autos Reporter Pras Subramanian test drove Chevrolet's new Corvette Grand Sport X hybrid, highlighting its new 6.7L V8 engine and a starting price of about $112,000. The Grand Sport X features a hybrid powertrain that provides torque fill during gear changes and improves handling in inclement weather, making it a versatile all-season sports car. Subramanian noted that the vehicle competes with the Porsche 911 Turbo, which costs roughly double at around $200,000 to $250,000, demonstrating GM's ability to deliver high performance at a lower price point.

Germany’s automotive giants are grappling with severe economic headwinds after first-half sales tumbled worldwide, especially in key markets like China. Many companies are now racing to adapt through aggressive cost controls, business restructuring, and thousands of job cuts to shore up their finances. Porsche reported total deliveries of 122,306 vehicles in the first half of this year, down 16.5 percent from the same period last year. Sales revenue fell 5.1 percent to 17.23 billion euros, but operating profit rose 33.9 percent thanks to strict cost management. The company is preparing to cut around 5,000 additional positions, which together with earlier plans will bring total job reductions to about 9,000, or nearly 20 percent of its workforce. BMW delivered a total of 1.15 million vehicles in the first six months, a 4.2 percent decline year-on-year. Meanwhile, Volkswagen, Porsche’s parent company, sold around 4 million vehicles in the first half, down 8.4 percent, causing operating profit to drop 11.6 percent to 5.9 billion euros. Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, said the group’s operating margin of 3.8 percent is too low and called for additional measures. The business confidence index for the German auto industry, compiled by the ifo Institute, fell to minus 21.4 points in June from minus 20.7 points in May. Hildegard Müller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said the sector needs comprehensive reform to return to growth. Amid the gloom, the electric vehicle market remains a bright spot, with new registrations of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Germany surging 60 percent year-on-year in June to 116,300 units.

European luxury brands and automakers are signaling diverging fortunes amid consumer weakness in China. BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche are struggling as Chinese consumers opt for cheaper, better domestic alternatives, while heritage luxury names like LVMH and Kering are holding up better. Ferrari and Rolls-Royce have seen China sales fall but not as sharply as mass-premium auto brands. Hermez said price hikes in 2027 are going to be smaller than this year, which weighed on its shares, while Kering's 1% second-quarter revenue rise was enough to boost its stock.

German luxury carmaker Porsche will cut a total of 9,000 jobs by 2035, equivalent to about one in five employees. In an agreement announced on the 27th by management and employee representatives, they also agreed to cut an additional 5,000 positions while avoiding compulsory redundancies through natural attrition and voluntary retirement. This follows the 3,900 job cuts agreed in February 2025 and an additional 500 cuts due to subsidiary closures, reducing the workforce from around 42,600 at the end of 2024. Michael Reiters, who became CEO at the beginning of this year, has been tasked with a fundamental turnaround of the business amid a sharp sales decline in the once highly profitable Chinese market and a stalling electric vehicle strategy.

Volkswagen AG reported stable sales revenue of 158 billion euros for the first half of 2026, while group deliveries fell 6 percent to 4.1 million vehicles. Operating profit reached 5.9 billion euros, yielding a margin of 3.8 percent, or 4.3 percent before special effects. Automotive net cash flow improved sharply to 3.2 billion euros, up 4.5 billion euros year-on-year, and net industrial liquidity stood at 32.7 billion euros. The battery-electric vehicle order book surged 57 percent to 330,000 units, but deliveries in China declined 26 percent in the half, including a 37 percent drop in the second quarter. For the full year, Volkswagen expects an operating return on sales between 4 percent and 5.5 percent and automotive net cash flow between 3 billion and 6 billion euros.

Volkswagen reported a 32.9 percent drop in second-quarter net profit to 1.54 billion euros, as the crisis-hit carmaker weighs up to 100,000 job cuts worldwide. The result was hit by a 500-million-euro charge for stopping US production of its electric ID.4 and negative mix effects from selling more lower-margin products. The group, which includes brands such as Lamborghini, Audi, Skoda and Porsche, also cut its full-year guidance and now expects sales to be flat or fall up to three percent. CEO Oliver Blume told staff that four plants could close and a further 50,000 jobs might have to go on top of the 50,000 departures already agreed across the group, which would be the largest restructuring in automotive history. The company is grappling with slimmer margins from electric cars, US tariffs and intense Chinese competition, with vehicle deliveries in China falling a further 31.6 percent in the first six months of the year.

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume warned employees on Monday that the automaker may need to eliminate another 50,000 jobs worldwide as it scrambles to close a 20% cost gap with rivals and avoid shutting German factories. The company has already agreed to roughly 50,000 reductions across the group, including at Audi and Porsche, and adding Blume's "theoretical deduction" would bring potential cuts to about 100,000 positions. Blume said Volkswagen preferred "intelligent solutions" to plant closures but could not yet identify competitive long-term uses for facilities in Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm. The warning follows a sharp business downturn, with second-quarter global deliveries falling 8.6% and deliveries in China plunging 36.6%, while tariffs are costing Volkswagen about 5 billion euros in annual operating profit. Labor representatives blocked Blume's broader restructuring proposal in a 12-7 supervisory board vote last week.

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has warned staff that a further 50,000 jobs could be axed, the first internal acknowledgement that total cuts may reach 100,000. The group has already agreed to 50,000 job losses, including at its Porsche and Audi divisions. In an internal memo, Blume said the company had identified a 20% cost disadvantage relative to peer firms, necessitating additional cuts, which translates into a theoretical deduction of another 50,000 positions globally. Labour representatives on the supervisory board rejected the proposals, which reportedly included job cuts and the possible closure of four plants. Blume indicated a preference for intelligent solutions over closures, pointing to defence sector work or the production of Chinese VW models in Europe as possible uses for underutilised sites.

Volkswagen has maintained its financial outlook for fiscal 2026 even as Chief Executive Oliver Blume warned that the automaker may ultimately need to eliminate around 50,000 more jobs globally to strengthen its competitive position, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters. The company continues to forecast sales revenue growth of 0 percent to 3 percent from 321.9 billion euros in 2025, and expects an operating profit margin of 4.0 percent to 5.5 percent, up from 2.8 percent last year. Volkswagen also projects an automotive investment ratio of 11 percent to 12 percent, automotive reported net cash flow of 3 billion euros to 6 billion euros, and automotive net liquidity of 32 billion euros to 34 billion euros. Blume said the company faces a cost disadvantage of about 20 percent compared with competitors, and after previously agreeing to cut around 50,000 jobs across the group, including at Porsche and Audi, this points to a theoretical need for another 50,000 job reductions, though no final decision has been made. The automaker is restructuring amid higher tariff costs, fierce competition in China, and the need to improve efficiency at its German factories, and is considering alternatives to plant closures such as defense-related production and building Chinese Volkswagen models in Europe.

Major German carmakers saw sharp quarterly sales declines in China as domestic demand weakened and competition heated up. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche reported China sales for the April-to-June quarter plummeting between 30% and 41% compared with the same period a year ago, according to company data released over the past week. For the first half of this year, they all reported a more than 20% year-on-year drop in China, squeezing overall profits. Volkswagen group deliveries in China fell 36.6% during the quarter to 424,300 vehicles, dragging down its global sales to an 8.6% decline even as deliveries increased in Europe and the Americas. The Wolfsburg-based auto group said it would slash its model lineup by up to half after the latest sales declines, while Porsche called China's market environment challenging and Mercedes-Benz cited a significantly weaker overall market and macroeconomic environment.

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche reported first half 2026 deliveries of 122,306 vehicles, a 16% decline from 146,391 a year earlier. The stock has softened recently, down 5.45% over the past 30 days, though it still shows a 10.26% gain over 90 days and a 5.64% total shareholder return over one year. Porsche trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.4 times, well above an estimated fair P/E of 19 times and the global auto industry average of 14.4 times. A discounted cash flow model suggests a fair value of €42.73 per share, slightly below the last close of €45.13.

Volkswagen is preparing to halve its model lineup and cut annual production capacity to 9 million vehicles as Europe's largest automaker confronts tariffs, geopolitical pressure and intensifying global competition. The group outlined a restructuring plan after a July 9 supervisory board meeting, which could reduce its global model lineup by up to 50%, cut equipment options and vehicle variants by as much as 75%, and lower capacity from roughly 10 million vehicles annually. The overhaul will also align software systems, electronic architectures and vehicle platforms across Eastern and Western operations, reducing duplicated engineering work. Reuters reported the broader restructuring could affect up to 100,000 jobs. CEO Oliver Blume said the global situation has continued to deteriorate, while CFO Arno Antlitz added that Volkswagen must substantially reduce complexity.

Volkswagen will axe one in two models from its vehicle range as part of a cost-cutting drive. The German car giant, which has about 150 different models across brands including Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche, said halving the number of models would allow it to focus on its best-selling and most profitable vehicles. It did not specify which brands would be affected or when the changes would be made. The move follows a board meeting that failed to agree on job cuts of up to 100,000 roles, with chief executive Oliver Blume saying the company is making the Volkswagen Group faster, more robust and more competitive. Unions staged protests outside plants across Germany on Thursday, warning of stepped-up industrial action if the company presses ahead with more job cuts or factory closures.

Porsche's global sales for the first half of 2026 fell 16% year-on-year to 122,306 units, the lowest level since 2020. Sales declined across all regions, with a 13% drop in North America, its largest market, and a 32% plunge in China. The company cited the end of production for the 718 model, a pullback from last year's strong electric Macan sales, and the expiry of US tax incentives for electric and hybrid vehicles as the main reasons. In China in particular, demand for luxury cars is shrinking due to a property slump and intensifying competition from local manufacturers. Porsche is responding by reducing its dealership network and offering locally tailored software. The company expects its China sales to decline for a fifth consecutive year in full-year 2026.

Volkswagen stock fell to its lowest level in roughly 15 years on Monday after reports that the German carmaker is considering cutting up to 100,000 jobs. The stock dropped close to 2% in Frankfurt, putting it on track for its weakest close since October 2010. The reported job cuts would represent the largest restructuring in Volkswagen's history, doubling a previously agreed target of around 50,000 position reductions across Volkswagen AG, Audi, Porsche, and CARIAD by 2030. Among the sites under consideration for closure are three Volkswagen plants in Hanover, Zwickau, and Emden, as well as Audi's facility in Neckarsulm, which together employ more than 45,000 workers. Labor union IG Metall and Volkswagen's General Works Council have vowed to prevent the plan, while the company has not confirmed specifics, stating only that the entire group must undergo far-reaching change.

Porsche Financial Services CFO Konrad Riedl is retiring after a 36-year tenure, with board spokesperson Volker Reichhardt stepping in as finance chief. Michael Glinski was also appointed chief commercial officer and board member. The changes come as parent Porsche AG launches its Strategy 2035 plan to boost sustainable profitability through structural streamlining and product-line reductions. The automaker recently discontinued two Taycan variants in the U.S. and plans to close three subsidiaries and cut about 500 jobs.

Porsche is in talks to cut jobs as part of a broader streamlining plan aimed at securing the German sportscar maker's long-term competitiveness. Chief Executive Michael Leiters said at the annual shareholder meeting that open discussions with employee representatives are underway, but he could not provide further details on the scale of job cuts. The company has already shed non-core assets, including stakes in Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group, and is shutting down units such as battery-tech developer Cellforce Group and e-bike drive systems developer Porsche eBike Performance. Leiters is pursuing a value-over-volume strategy, investing in new gas-powered and hybrid models while delaying some all-electric vehicle rollouts and reducing model variants. Porsche confirmed its full-year guidance, expecting sales of 35 billion to 36 billion euros, an operating margin of 5.5% to 7.5%, and one-off restructuring costs of 800 million to 900 million euros.