The Volkswagen subsidiary delivered 15% fewer vehicles in the first quarter and took a €200 million hit from U.S. import tariffs
Porsche reported a 22% drop in first-quarter operating profit, as falling vehicle deliveries continued to pressure the Volkswagen subsidiary's finances.
Group operating profit came in at €595 million for the January-to-March period, down from €762 million a year earlier, the company said. After-tax earnings dropped to €391 million, a 24.6% decline from the €518 million Porsche posted in the year-earlier period, Yahoo Finance reported. Revenue declined 5.2% to €8.4 billion.
Worldwide deliveries came to 60,991 vehicles, roughly 15% below the 71,470 units the company shipped in the same period last year. The company said the steeper decline in deliveries relative to revenue reflected disciplined pricing and a focus on higher-margin models.
U.S. import tariffs cost the Stuttgart-based automaker €200 million in the quarter, according to Reuters. Porsche has also faced weakening demand in China, where consumers have shifted toward lower-priced domestic alternatives. Among the additional pressures Porsche flagged were the withdrawal of U.S. tax incentives for electric and hybrid vehicles and the discontinuation of petrol-powered variants of the Cayman and Boxster.
The operating return on sales stood at 7.1%, which the company said reached the upper end of its forecast range. Automotive net cashflow rose to €514 million from €198 million a year earlier, a result the company attributed to higher operating cash inflow, tighter working capital management, and lower investment spending, despite increased tariffs.
The share of battery electric vehicles in Porsche's automotive sales fell to 19.8% from 25.9% a year earlier.
CEO Michael Leiters, who took over at the start of 2026 from Oliver Blume — who remains CEO of parent Volkswagen — described the period as one of strategic overhaul. "The transformation is challenging and requires consistent action and discipline," Leiters said in a statement. CFO Jochen Breckner said the first-quarter result was in line with expectations and supported the company's full-year outlook.
Porsche confirmed its full-year 2026 forecast, though it noted the guidance does not account for possible effects from the conflict in the Middle East. The company said it plans to present a comprehensive update to its Strategy 2035 plan at a Capital Markets Day in the autumn.
The first-quarter result follows a difficult 2025, during which Porsche's full-year operating margin collapsed to 1.1%, according to Reuters — a sharp fall from the 18% margin the company reported in 2022, the year of its stock market listing.
