After going through a relatively stable first quarter, Porsche’s global sales have taken a hit as the coronavirus forced many countries, as well as Porsche’s core markets, to go into lockdown. As such, its sales for the first six months of 2020 slid -12% compared to the same period last year.
As of June 30, 2020, Porsche sold a total of 116,964 cars worldwide (133,484 units in 1H 2019), with the Cayenne being the most popular model with 39,245 deliveries. The Macan, which was the best-selling model for 1H 2019, trails behind with 34,430 units sold. Sales of the 911, meanwhile, increased 2% as compared to 2019 with 16,919 deliveries, whereas the Taycan – recently named the world’s most innovative car – found 4,480 new homes.
Unsurprisingly, China remains the automaker’s largest single market by way of volume, selling 39,603 vehicles in the country alone. That’s only a -7% contraction compared to the 42,608 cars it shifted in the first half of 2019, which pales in comparison to the double-digit slump in other major markets.
For example, in Europe, it’s second strongest region, Porsche shifted 32,312 cars – a -18% decline from 2019’s tally of 39,243. Sales in its home market, Germany, took a relatively big hit, having sold just 10,702 cars versus 14,186 from the year before. That’s a 25% dip, but that’s primarily because nearly all Porsche Centres in Germany and Europe were shut throughout April.
Porsche AG board member for sales and marketing, Detlev von Platen said: “We see positive tendencies, although we continued to feel the effects of the coronavirus crisis in the second quarter, especially in the US and Europe. A crucial factor here was the month of April, when almost all Porsche Centres in these markets were still closed.“
“In addition, this was a very strong second quarter in 2019 as the comparative period. We remain confident, however, and are full of energy as we tackle the challenges in the second half of the year. The continuing positive development in China and other Asian markets will help us here, too,“ he added. Speaking of Asian markets, Porsche’s sales in Korea and Japan showed double-digit growth rates, having sold 4,242 and 3,675 units respectively.