Porsche, the luxury German carmaker, is moving ahead with its IPO and plans to issue 911 million shares, Reuters reported, a reference to its most famous sports car model.
Currently part of Volkswagen Group, which also owns Audi, Bentley, and Lamborghini, Porsche’s valuation could be as high as €80 billion, the news wire reported. At that price range, it would be worth more than rivals like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. A stock exchange prospectus is expected to be published on Sep. 19 with trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange expected to begin on Sep. 29.
Racing into an electric future
In July, Volkswagen Group said its outlook for the coming year was mixed. It expects the global volume of new vehicle sales to be on a par with 2021, but still below pre-pandemic levels. It remains cautious on continued covid-19 flareups and shortages of semiconductors and other commodities.
In the first half of the year, Porsche sold 145,860 new passenger cars down 5.1% compared to the year before. However the 911, Panamera, and Cayenne models all sold more units than in the previous year.
Despite the market uncertainty, Porsche is betting big on electric vehicles. The company is moving away from being known as a maker of internal combustion engine-powered cars into an electric vehicle leader. Its all-electric Taycan model has become a bestseller despite only launching just two years ago. It said it expects its electric vehicles business to equal the size of its combustion cars business by 2024.
Its parent Volkswagen is investing in the sector, too. The sale of Porsche could help fund a costly expansion into electric vehicles and help it catch up to Tesla. It is aiming to see half of its vehicle sales be electric by 2030.