Automotive News: Leiters will become CEO of Porsche AG as Operating Profits plunge 99%
In the gleaming halls of Stuttgart, where the roar of high-performance engines once drowned out any whisper of doubt, Porsche AG faced a reckoning this autumn. The luxury automaker, synonymous with unyielding excellence, had hit a skid.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Operating profits for the first nine months of 2025 cratered to a mere €40 million—a gut-wrenching 99% nosedive from the €403.5 million that had fueled dreams just a year prior. Sales revenue? Down 6%, evaporating €1.7 billion from the coffers. Vehicle deliveries? Another 6% slip, leaving 13,000 fewer Porsches prowling the world’s roads.
The culprits, executives insisted, weren’t missteps in the boardroom but seismic shifts in the global arena. “Growing pains,” they called it—echoes of a broader storm brewing for every automaker daring to dream big. At the epicenter: U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, slamming into Porsche’s twin lifelines, the USA and China, like a sudden downshift on a rain-slicked autobahn. These weren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet; they were warning lights flashing red, demanding a pivot before the engine seized.
Enter the Supervisory Board, Porsche’s steady guardians, who, on a crisp October day in 2025, gripped the wheel with resolve. They appointed Dr. Michael Leiters—the sharp-minded engineer whose vision had already sculpted electric dreams at the company’s development helm—as the new CEO of Porsche AG. Effective January 1, 2026, Leiters would inherit the keys to the kingdom, tasked with steering the 911 maker through uncharted turbulence.
For Dr. Oliver Blume, the outgoing CEO whose decade-long reign had burnished Porsche’s halo—from electrifying the Taycan to fortifying its place among the elite—the news carried a bittersweet charge. Blume, a Stuttgart native with the quiet intensity of a man who’d raced both circuits and corporate minefields, wouldn’t stray far. He’d ascend to the throne of Volkswagen Group, Porsche’s sprawling parent, ensuring his legacy lingered like the scent of fine leather.
The board’s chairman, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche—scion of the founding dynasty and a figure as iconic as the cars bearing his name—spoke with the gravitas of family lore. “As CEO of Porsche AG, Dr. Oliver Blume has taken great responsibility in challenging times and successfully managed the company,” he declared, his words a bridge between eras. “The Supervisory Board would like to thank him for his strong commitment. We look forward to continuing to work closely and trustingly with him as CEO of Volkswagen Group.”
Blume, ever the strategist, framed the handover not as a retreat but as a reinvention. “Massive changes in what are by far Porsche’s largest single markets, the USA and China, have placed new demands on our business model,” he reflected, his voice steady amid the storm.
“That is why we have structurally realigned the company this year and comprehensively expanded our product strategy. With full flexibility in drivetrain and an improved cost structure, Porsche is now robustly positioned for the future. In my role for Volkswagen Group, I will closely accompany and support the further development of Porsche.”
Behind the scenes, the realignment had been a high-stakes overhaul: drivetrains untethered from fossil fuels, costs shaved to the bone, product lines stretched to lure the bespoke buyer. But the ledger told a harsher truth for now. Dr. Jochen Breckner, the board’s finance and IT maestro, pulled no punches in the post-announcement huddle. “This year’s results reflect the impact of our strategic realignment,” he admitted. “However, these measures are essential. We are consciously accepting temporarily weaker financial figures in order to strengthen Porsche’s resilience and profitability in the long term.”
Breckner’s gaze turned forward, to the horizon where recovery gleamed like dawn over the Black Forest. “We expect 2025 to be the trough that precedes a noticeable improvement for Porsche from 2026 onward,” he promised. “Our goal is to sharpen our brand and make our products even more individual, exclusive, and desirable.”
As Leiters prepares to take the helm, Porsche stands at a crossroads—not unlike the hairpin turns that define its DNA. The profit plunge may have rattled the foundations, but in the spirit of the marque, it’s a call to accelerate. Will the new guard reclaim the podium? In Stuttgart, they bet on it, one revving heartbeat at a time.