Porsche’s 99% : The Headline Everyone Will Run - But It’s Not the Whole Story
(Estimated Reading Time: 3 min)
Disclosure: The author has previously owned two Porsche EVs and considers the 911 a near-religious experience on four wheels. Nonetheless, the numbers don’t lie.
Everyone will share the same number this week: Porsche’s profits fell 99% in Q3.
That’s technically true, but, dangerously incomplete.
Here at DG Actual, we believe dealers, leaders, and car people deserve more than headlines. So let’s slow this one down and look under the frunk. Because this isn’t the story of a brand in trouble, it’s the story of a company investing through pain to stay ahead.
What Happened
Porsche’s operating profit for the first nine months of 2025 dropped from €4.04 billion to €40 million — a 99% fall. Revenue slipped 6% to €26.86 billion. Deliveries declined 6% to 212,509 vehicles. On paper, it looks like a brand that hit a wall.
But the “loss” is mostly math - and timing. Porsche took about €2.7 billion in extraordinary charges for restructuring, EV realignment, and battery development; costs that will total roughly €3.1 billion for the full year. Add a 15% U.S. import tariff and a 25% sales decline in China, and you get a very ugly quarter.
What’s Actually Going On
Even in this so-called disaster quarter, Porsche’s automotive net cash flow rose year-over-year, up to €1.34 billion. That means the core business, selling and delivering cars, is still making real money. Customers still want the brand. North America saw record deliveries, overseas markets grew, and EV mix jumped to 35% globally (56% in Europe).
This is not a collapse of demand. It’s a reflection of massive short-term investment; the kind every manufacturer has to stomach when transitioning its lineup
Why It Matters
Executives are calling 2025 a “trough year”. In plain terms, that means the bottom before the bounce. It’s a rare public look at the financial pain behind transformation. Porsche is re-engineering powertrains, re-structuring supply chains, and adapting to a world where tariffs, electrification, and software matter as much as horsepower.
The headlines scream “crisis.” The data quietly says “reset.” And for any dealer or OEM leader paying attention, that distinction matters.
The DG Actual Take
Transformation doesn’t photograph well.
Big-picture shifts almost always look like chaos in the middle. Porsche’s report isn’t a sign of failure, it’s the invoice for future capability. The company still sells every car it builds. Its brand equity and pricing power remain unmatched. And it’s betting heavily that by 2026, those one-off costs will fade while the new EV platform and Macan momentum take over.
So yes, 99% down. But not 99% wrong. Sometimes, progress looks like a loss on paper.
Sources: Porsche AG Q3 2025 financial release; Reuters; WSJ; Carscoops; Road & Track; Yahoo Finance; Seeking Alpha; GuruFocus.
(Compiled and edited by DG Actual. All data verified as of October 25, 2025.)