Porsche Macan drives Porsche’s 2015 profits up by 25%

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Profits at Porsche rose by an impressive 25 per cent in 2015, as the first full year of the Porsche Macan accounted for a third of Porsche’s sales.

We know the only reason the Porsche 911 continues to develop and improve is because the Porsche Cayenne has been a cash cow for Porsche since it arrived more than a decade ago. But now Porsche has a new cash cow – the more compact Porsche Macan SUV.

2015 was the first full year the Macan has been available, and its arrival helped Porsche increase profits by a massive 25 per cent, with profits of €3.4 billion on sales of €21.5 billion – a very healthy 16 per cent margin.

The Macan accounted for for over a third of Porsche’s sales in 2015 – and the Cayenne only slightly less – meaning everything else Porsche produces – 911, Cayman, Boxster and Panamera – accounted for less of Porsche’s sales than the Macan and Panamera did individually.

Although the latest figures show how dependent Porsche are on their SUVs to turn a profit, it does auger well for the continued investment in Porsche’s other models which, paradoxically, may be the small sellers in the range but are the cars that give the SUVs the ‘halo’ that makes them so appealing to buyers.

Porsche are cautioning against 2016 being as impressive a year financially – despite a 14 per cent increase in sales in the first two months of 2016 – as big development costs are looming to build the all-electric Mission E at Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

Porsch  Lutz Meschke said:

Above all, it is necessary to brace for investments in the billions of euros in the first pure battery-electric Porsche model, the Mission E.

Today, we expect sales revenue to rise slightly in fiscal year 2016 and profits to reach the same level as in the past year.

High delivery numbers are not our primary objective. They are the logical consequence of our corporate strategy and an expression of our attractive product range.

And, of course, there’s the elephant in the room – what will be the impact on Porsche of VW’s need for endless billions of Euros to deal with the dieselgate fallout?