The sports car manufacturer Porsche is mired in a sales crisis, which now has initial personnel consequences. In light of weak sales figures in China, high costs, and a drastic decline in Porsche's share price, CFO and IT board member Lutz Meschke as well as head of sales Detlev von Platen are to leave the company. The supervisory board has tasked chairman Wolfgang Porsche with negotiating their early departure.

The layoffs are not surprising. Both managers have been criticized for months because they are held responsible for the weak business performance. Recently, according to analysts, Porsche did not rule out that sales could continue to decline in 2025 - particularly due to the ongoing weakness in China. There, deliveries fell by 28 percent last year, while they grew in other markets such as Germany.

For Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume, the crisis at Porsche is particularly delicate. For years, the flow of money from Zuffenhausen was a reliable support for the parent company, and Blume himself led Porsche before also taking over the leadership of VW — a dual role that has been widely criticized since then.

Porsche sold a total of 310,000 vehicles in 2024, three percent less than the previous year. The brand's crisis hits Volkswagen during a phase of uncertainty. The Wolfsburg-based group is undergoing a profound restructuring: around four billion euros are to be saved annually and 35,000 jobs are to be cut. Factories like the flagship plant in Zwickau are on the brink, and the German locations are heavily affected by the electrification strategy.

In addition to sales issues, Volkswagen is struggling with growing competition from China. As e-mobility becomes increasingly important worldwide, Chinese manufacturers are pressuring German carmakers with affordable electric vehicles. Market conditions in China are further worsening—a development that both Volkswagen and Porsche are experiencing.