Porsche lost nearly a billion euros due to return to petrol

(Patria) - German sports car manufacturer Porsche recorded a loss of nearly one billion euros in the third quarter, the company announced on Friday, facing costs of returning to petrol and delaying the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs), AFP reported.

Operating profit, which excludes some costs such as taxes, fell to forty million euros in the first nine months of this year.

Porsche announced in July that it had achieved an operating profit of one billion euros since the beginning of the year, meaning that in the months that followed it lost around 960 million euros.

Chief Financial Officer Jochen Breckner said the results reflect the costs of reshaping Porsche's product portfolio to return to petrol vehicles amid weak demand for electric vehicles.

- This year's results reflect the impact of our strategic redirection. These measures are necessary - said Breckner.

Porsche announced in September that it would delay the introduction of some fully electric cars and extend the lifespan of some models with internal combustion engines and hybrid models.

The parent company, Volkswagen Group, recorded a profit drop of 5.1 billion euros this year based on the costs of Porsche's product restructuring, as well as reductions in profit targets.

Porsche is under pressure from competitors in the leading market of China and is particularly vulnerable to tariffs by US President Donald Trump because it has no manufacturing footprint in the United States.

Breckner told analysts and investors in a conference call that "costs related to tariffs" have so far amounted to over 500 million euros.