'Electromobility is the future': Porsche CEO targets innovation

German auto giant Porsche is celebrating bumper 2023 for sales. The group posted numbers on Tuesday of $44.3 billion - a 7.7 percent increase on 2022 - and profit was up 7.2 percent to $7.98 billion.

Speaking to CGTN just after the numbers had been made available to the German stock exchange, CEO Oliver Blume said he was happy with the results.

"Our sales were 320,000 units," said Blume, who is particularly proud of Porsche's first series production electric car: "I would underline the success of the Taycan - we were able to sell more than 40,000 units last year, and that's in the last year of the first generation. 

"Yesterday we launched the new Taycan GT. And this one stands for the real motorsport scenes of Porsche with a car with over 100 horsepower and acceleration - 2.2 seconds from 0 to 100 [km/h]. That's massive and impressive."

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China is already a huge part of Porsche's target market. Blume said that he expects this to continue and they have big plans for the future.

"China is a challenging market - it's driving with full speed to technology innovations and digitalization," he said. "We think we're well positioned for the future, especially with the new products we'll bring to the market."

Indeed, Blume suggested that Porsche's new releases had  been launched with China in mind.

"[We have] five new model lines this year, with a new Cayenne, the Panamera, the Macan, the Taycan and a new 911 - a fantastic product mix," he beamed. "We have the offerings in between, plug-in hybrids and BEVs [battery electric vehicles], which match perfectly to the market in China."

The German car colossus has its eyes firmly set on being at the forefront of high-end electric vehicles.

"Our strategy is clear: Electromobility is the future," Blume insisted. "It fits perfectly to our brands in terms of acceleration and driving dynamics."

Trouble and innovation

Porsche currently finds itself wrapped up in some legal back-and-forth over the sinking of the Felicity Ace. In 2022, the car-transporter ship caught fire and sank while traveling from Germany to Rhode Island in the U.S., with thousands of supercars from marques including Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche lost to the waves. Estimates have placed the cost of the cars alone as being at least $236m. 

Porsche's parent company Volkswagen has faced lawsuits from six plaintiffs, including the ship operator Mitsui OSK Lines and insurer Allianz, amid claims that the fire was started by a Porsche EV battery. Blume told CGTN that firstly he was glad that all 22 crew had made it to safety and that it was the subject of an ongoing investigation.

"First of all, it was an accident which happened there," he said. "And we are happy that all the team could be saved. We had 1,100 Porsches on the ship. And up to now, the cause of the incident isn't clear. And so we won't join the speculation."

The Porsche brand has prided itself on automotive innovation. Blume pledged that will continue and said the blend of auto tech with augmented reality tech was an area of particular focus.

"We are using an augmented reality head-up display," he said. "We're combining the digital and the real world for our customers. When there's an accident, you have a warning on the display which combines that with the real surroundings, and lets you know the safest direction to move in."

As for what direction Porsche aims to move in - one can only imagine it's forward, and quickly.

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