Porsche is one of the manufacturers most exposed to the levies because it lacks a factory in the US.Porsche AG warned of a tough road ahead for sales this year after a slowdown in the lucrative US market and persistent weakness in China.
The sportscar maker’s global deliveries fell 6 per cent in the first half of the year, an improvement on the sharper decline recorded in the first quarter. In North America, where Porsche relies solely on imports, growth slowed to 10%, from a 37 per cent surge in the three months through March.
“We expect the environment to remain challenging,” Matthias Becker, Porsche’s board member for sales and marketing, said Tuesday in a statement. The company cited fierce competition in China as the main factor behind its 28 per cent sales slump in the world’s biggest auto market.
European luxury-car makers are losing momentum in the US and continue to fall behind in China, where local brands are taking over. Mercedes-Benz Group AG on Monday said its sales dropped 10 per cent in the second quarter after President Donald Trump’s tariffs curbed deliveries in the US and China. Porsche is one of the manufacturers most exposed to the levies because it lacks a factory in the US.
Addressing its performance in China, the Volkswagen AG-controlled brand pointed to fierce competition in the luxury and electric-vehicle segments that are increasingly dominated by homegrown manufacturers led by BYD Co.
Global sales of the 911 fell 9 per cent due to the phased introduction of updated versions. The Macan sport utility vehicle was the brand’s top performer, with sales up 15 per cent in the first half — almost 60 per cent of them the all-electric version.
