1. As Chairman of the global automotive brand Porsche, what are your current main issues and challenges in light of the Corona situation? And how may the virus have transformed the company?
The Coronavirus crisis is a massive challenge for all of us. At Porsche, we are keeping a positive attitude. We have been resilient and we are on a steady course. This shows in the positive results after the first nine months of the year, which put us among the leaders in the industry. The key to our success is our team. We’ve mastered the crisis together – with our safety measures, our business focuses, and our digital communications. We are also helped by the fact that we have invested in new products and innovations: for example the new 911, the Cayenne Coupé or the Taycan.
2. With regard to company strategy and positioning, have you made any significant adjustments or changes due to Covid? Can Porsche’s attention to the driving experience, sportive and exclusive as well as emotional, for the premium segment, be maintained in today’s challenging environment?
Managing the crisis systematically and responsibly and seeing it as an opportunity is important. Above all, you need to have an optimistic attitude, you need to look to the future, and you need to move ahead again quickly at top speed. We have not deviated from our strategy – not even by a millimeter: despite the restrictions, Porsche has consistently driven all its future projects forward. At most, we considered what could perhaps be delayed a little. In other words, changing the sequence. These interventions were only part of an extensive program in the last few months. However, investments in the future are also especially important to us at this time. We will certainly become even more digital in the way we present ourselves to the outside world: this year we staged the world premieres for the 911 Turbo S and the 911 Targa online. Authentic, informative and innovative. The insights gained are clearly positive – digital formats also work in sales. Of course, this lacks the certain sense of emotionality that you experience when driving a car. On the whole, my conclusion is positive: going digital makes life more flexible, and personal interactions continue to remain valuable.
3. Will Porsche continue to invest heavily in electro-mobility?
Yes. We are systematically driving our strategy and our future projects forward. We will invest around 15 billion euros in electric mobility and digitalisation by 2025.
4. Please summarize your latest advances in autonomous driving, hybrid and electric (i.e. the Taycan)!
Many long-standing Porsche customers who drive the Taycan for the first time are completely enthusiastic about its driving dynamics. We have had very positive feedback about the car. With its exceptional driving dynamics and outstanding driving performance, the Taycan is one hundred percent Porsche. We will be delivering around 20,000 Taycan cars to our customers in 2020 alone.
We are also particularly pleased that the Taycan was recently voted the most innovative car in the world by international experts. In addition to this accolade, the Taycan also won the Golden Steering Wheel award in the two categories “Best Sports Car” and “Most Beautiful Car”. The current generation of hybrids is also packed with innovations. We have positioned the new generation of the Panamera Hybrid as even more powerful. For the plug-in hybrids, we have increased the electric range by up to 30 percent.
The topic of autonomous driving is an interesting one for Porsche – not least because the Taycan is ready for autonomous driving. Nevertheless, driving without human intervention is certainly not the highest priority for Porsche customers. For us, the focus is on the sporty driving experience – and therefore on the active driver. Despite this, there are of course aspects of autonomous driving that are very helpful: Traffic Jam Assist or automatic parking, for example.
5. You have introduced two successful SUV models over the last few years (Cayenne and Macan), which stylize/design-wise seem to break with the traditional sleek sports-car design that Porsche has become so well known for. In addition, you have introduced a 4-door model (Panamera). Does this represent a shift in your strategy, away from the sports-car market alone? Might this threaten Porsche’s iconic traditional image?
First and foremost, all Porsche vehicles are sports cars. Even our Cayenne and Macan stand out due to the sportiness and performance typical for Porsche. At the same time, our cars are absolutely timeless. Certain styling trends have remained the same across car generations. As a general rule, it can be said that Porsche is so successful because Porsche has always kept changing. Innovations are at the core of the brand and are the tradition of tomorrow. Our motto is: the right sports car for the right purpose. This is how Porsche will always remain Porsche. We are combining our strong tradition with groundbreaking future technologies.
6. Electric cars (and hybrids) seems to become more and more consumer’s preferred choice. How can Porsche establish its presence in this segment? (Sportiness? Luxury? Prestige?)
Electric mobility is a huge opportunity for us. Realising the Taycan was a tough task and required a lot of pioneering spirit. We set ourselves a great challenge, but we have also learnt a lot at the same time. It is tremendously motivating for our team to see how well the car has been received. Electric mobility is an extremely exciting and compelling technology. In the long term, we are aiming to sell half of all cars with a full or partial electric drive from 2025. Our fans can rely on the fact that we will launch only highly emotive vehicles with the Porsche DNA on the market in the future also. The Taycan, our first all-electric sports car, is such a true Porsche. With this electric vehicle we have demonstrated that it is possible to transport our brand’s traditional core values into the future.
7. Are there other commitments to innovation in which Porsche is now investing?
We have established a comprehensive toolbox in order to increase our access to innovations in a targeted way. This extends throughout all the divisions of the company. Our venture capital investments make an important contribution. We believe that we can become even more agile and innovative in many areas with targeted investments in start-up companies. We have developed a separate unit that deals exclusively with investments and participations. Porsche Ventures. Up to 150 million euros per year are available to invest in key topics for the future. Porsche Ventures has made more than 20 direct investments and is involved in a variety of funds in Europe, Israel, USA and China. Our strategic objective here is to identify trends, to obtain access to new technologies and business models as well as develop new relationships with a new generation of start-up entrepreneurs.
8. Are there new mobility concepts?
Porsche is continually expanding its flexible mobility offerings in response to changed customer requirements. Our premium rental service “Porsche Drive – Rental” provides rentals for a few hours and up to 28 days. The offering is currently available in Germany, France, Canada, Russia, Switzerland and the US. We offer the highly flexible car subscription service “Porsche Drive – Multi-Vehicle Subscription” in five cities in the US and Canada. Customers can flexibly change their car via the app and choose from up to 20 models. An offer that meets the large demand and appeals to new customers: around 80 percent of Porsche Drive users have not owned a Porsche before. In the US, the “Porsche Drive – Single-Vehicle Subscription” offer is additionally available: users choose a particular Porsche model and subscribe to it as a new vehicle on a monthly basis. In Germany, this program is called “Porsche Drive Abo” and offers nearly new used cars.
9. What is your commitment to digital and technology, i.e. connectivity and AI? You were quoted as saying Porsche shall invest 15 billion euros in new technologies in the next five years. How shall that investment be spread?
Electric mobility, sustainable production and digitalisation are important future projects for Porsche. With them we are sharpening the core of our brand and systematically aligning the company so that it is prepared for the mobility of the future. Porsche is pursuing a clear and consistent strategy: the transformation from a traditional company into a sustainable technology corporation. For this reason, we are consistently driving our sustainability strategy forward – even the coronavirus pandemic will not sway us from our course.
10. How do you stay in touch within the startup scene, scout, support and/or invest therein?
Innovations are an integral part of the Porsche culture and firmly anchored in our corporate strategy through the previously mentioned holistic tool box. We have various touch points with the start-up scene. Our investment vehicle Porsche Ventures is always at the forefront, with offices in relevant trendsetting areas such as Berlin, Tel Aviv, Palo Alto and Shanghai. It’s about investments and joint ventures. Another example of our close links to the start-up scene is the partnership with the innovation platform, Startup Autobahn. This acts as an interface between industry-leading companies and technology start-ups in Stuttgart. The program enables corporate partners and start-ups to jointly develop prototypes to evaluate possible further collaborations between the two parties. The projects are generally set up to run for a period of six months. Porsche has realised more than 70 projects with Startup Autobahn so far.
11. What are the threats Porsche currently faces? And from whom?
As we all know, the world is changing radically at an extremely fast pace. It is therefore important to see the major challenges posed by the transformation as an opportunity. And at the same time to provide orientation and support. The structural transformation in the car industry, climate change, new technologies such as electric mobility, markets, customers and our organisation. These are also the focal points that we are aiming at with our Porsche Strategy 2030, thus establishing the foundation for the successful future of Porsche.
12. Can you share some comments on supply chain management?
Our supply chain is well positioned, with a 50:50 mix of national and international suppliers. Porsche is traditionally deeply rooted in Germany and Europe. However, the picture is made up of many different aspects. Our German suppliers also manufacture in other countries, for example. We have close ties with partners in Eastern and Southern Europe. Chinese suppliers account for a smaller proportion at around ten percent. They mainly supply electrical and electronic components. The coronavirus pandemic affects all of us, and that includes our supply chain partners. We had to adapt to this situation in a very short space of time. We are therefore now concentrating on what is essential. For the supply chains, this means: Which routes are really necessary? How can we streamline the logistics? Porsche will ensure that it is positioned even more robustly in future. At the same time, we are also looking at the wider picture and asking ourselves: How sustainable is our supply chain? To answer these questions, we have developed a rating system for suppliers within the Group. This includes ecological and social components and forms part of our order award process.
13. Porsche is a family business. Is this fact still central or present in the company today? And if so, how do you preserve that spirit?
The people are what is most important. They are at the heart of what we do at Porsche. A good team can make everything happen. Even in difficult situations, such as the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to a great team effort, we succeeded in ramping up production again at Porsche without any negative effects. Despite the assistance provided by robots in production, machines will always be there only to help people. There will be never be a factory that has no people. Especially not at Porsche. This is what I stand for personally. The reason for this is that Porsche is made by people for people. Our special Porsche culture thrives because we meet up on-the-spot and because of our personal interactions. This creates a special spirit and rightly allows us to always speak about the Porsche family.
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