In view of declining sales figures and an impending customs dispute, the company is changing Porsche his China-Boss out. Alexander Pollich (57), previously Managing Director of Porsche Germany, is expected to take over the position from September, the company announced on Saturday. So far, he has developed the Porsche business not only in Germany but also in Canada and Great Britain.
Sales manager Detlev von Platen (60) said the Chinese market is currently particularly challenging. Pollich is a proven and experienced sales professional. The manager replaces Michael Kirsch, who is moving to another position in the group. Porsche left details open.
Slump in demand weighs on luxury brand
Porsche is currently getting one significant drop in demand in China
to feel. At the virtual general meeting, Porsche boss Oliver Blume (56) said the situation remained “extremely challenging”.
Blume has been a frequent visitor to China recently. The problems there are among his biggest as CEO Volkswagen-Group. He initiated a few things. Invested 2.4 billion euros in the software company Horizon Robotics. Bought a small stake in Chinese electronics newcomer XPeng for $700 million. Even got the Chinese partners XPeng and Saic to set up new models for the Germans, with Chinese electronics architecture. Everything so that the corporate brands VW and Audi remain somehow competitive even in the electric age, like that manager magazine reported
.
Porsche fell short in this regard. China was also the most important market for the Stuttgart-based company; Porsche once sold a third of its cars here. Today it is less than 20 percent. This reduces dependency – and at the same time profits, because returns are high in China.