Porsche Shuts Three Subsidiaries, Sells Bugatti to Drive Strategic Restructuring

On May 9, 2025, Porsche announced it would cease operations at three of its subsidiaries—Cellforce Group GmbH, Porsche eBike Performance GmbH, and Cetitec GmbH—a move expected to affect more than 500 jobs. This decision forms part of the company’s strategic restructuring aimed at refocusing on its core business. Cellforce Group GmbH is being shut down due to a lack of long-term viability following adjustments in Porsche’s powertrain strategy; Porsche eBike Performance GmbH is terminating operations as the market environment for electric bicycle drive systems has fundamentally changed; and Cetitec GmbH, which previously developed data communication software for Porsche and the Volkswagen Group, is also entering wind-down proceedings due to shifts in market and technological directions. Just two weeks earlier, on April 26, Porsche announced the sale of its entire 45% stake in the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture and its 20.6% stake in Rimac Group to New York-based investment firm HOF Capital. The transaction values Bugatti-Rimac at approximately €1 billion and is expected to close by the end of 2026, generating around €5 billion in cash proceeds for Porsche. This divestment marks the end of the Volkswagen Group’s 28-year control over Bugatti, which began with its acquisition in 1998. These moves are closely tied to Porsche’s current financial performance. For fiscal year 2025, the company reported revenue of €36.27 billion, down 9.5% year-over-year. Operating profit plummeted from €5.64 billion to €413 million—a staggering 92.7% decline—and return on sales dropped from 14.1% to just 1.1%. The sharp downturn was primarily driven by special charges totaling approximately €3.9 billion: €2.4 billion related to product strategy realignment and scale optimization, €700 million from additional costs in battery-related businesses, and another €700 million impacted by U.S. tariffs. Global deliveries for Porsche in 2025 totaled 279,449 vehicles, a 10% decrease year-over-year. Deliveries in China fell to 41,938 units, down 26% compared to the prior year—marking the fourth consecutive annual decline. China, once Porsche’s largest single market with nearly 100,000 units sold in 2021, has seen sustained weakening demand amid structural market shifts and increasingly rational consumer perceptions of luxury brands, leading to continued declines in key models like the Cayenne. Porsche expects Chinese deliveries to further drop to around 30,000 units in 2026. Concurrently, the number of Porsche dealerships in China has been reduced from approximately 150 in 2024 to 104 in 2025, with plans to streamline the network to about 80 locations by the end of 2026. Porsche forecasts revenue for 2026 to remain within the range of €35–36 billion, with return on sales rebounding to between 5.5% and 7.5%. Meanwhile, parent company Volkswagen Group reported FY2025 revenue of approximately €321.9 billion, roughly flat year-over-year, but operating profit declined sharply to €8.87 billion—down more than 50%—primarily due to U.S. tariffs, Porsche’s strategic restructuring costs, foreign exchange volatility, and intensifying market competition. Despite these challenges, Volkswagen Group still delivered around 2.69 million vehicles in China in 2025, retaining its position as the top-selling foreign automaker in the country.