Porsche shutters e-bike, battery, software subsidiaries as part of company overhaul
Porsche shutters e-bike, battery, software subsidiaries as part of company overhaul
保时捷关闭电动自行车、电池及软件子公司，开启公司全面重组
Porsche is closing three of its subsidiaries as it copes with falling sales and declining profits, the German automaker announced Friday. The automaker’s battery subsidiary, Cellforce Group, is perhaps the highest-profile casualty. The division had already been through a “realignment” in August after Porsche dropped plans to make its own batteries, turning Cellforce into a research and development arm. Now, Porsche says it’s pursuing a “technology-open powertrain strategy” — corporate-speak that indicates the automaker will rely more heavily on other companies for its batteries.
保时捷周五宣布，由于销量下滑和利润缩水，公司将关闭旗下三家子公司。其中，电池子公司 Cellforce Group 或许是受影响最显著的部门。该部门在保时捷放弃自研电池计划后，已于今年 8 月经历了一次“重组”，转型为研发部门。保时捷目前表示，公司正在推行“技术开放的动力总成战略”——这是一种企业术语，意味着保时捷未来将更多地依赖外部供应商来提供电池。
Porsche eBike Performance, which made e-bike drive systems, and Cetitec, a networking software subsidiary that served both Porsche and the wider Volkswagen Group, will also be shut down. More than 500 people, who are employed at the three subsidiaries, will lose their jobs. “We must refocus on our core business,” Porsche CEO and Executive Chair Michael Leiters said in a statement. “This is the indispensable foundation for a successful strategic realignment. This forces us to make painful cuts — including our subsidiaries.”
此外，生产电动自行车驱动系统的 Porsche eBike Performance，以及为保时捷及整个大众集团提供网络软件服务的子公司 Cetitec 也将被关闭。这三家子公司的 500 多名员工将面临失业。保时捷首席执行官兼执行主席 Michael Leiters 在声明中表示：“我们必须重新聚焦核心业务。这是成功进行战略重组不可或缺的基础。这迫使我们必须做出痛苦的裁减，包括关闭这些子公司。”
It’s a message that Leiters, who became CEO early this year, first delivered in March when the company announced plans to realign its business. “We will comprehensively reposition Porsche, make the company leaner, faster and the products even more desirable,” he said at the time. Since then, Porsche has extracted itself from several endeavors, including an agreement reached in April to sell its equity stakes in Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group to a consortium led by New York-based investment firm HOF Capital.
Leiters 于今年年初出任首席执行官，他在 3 月份宣布公司重组计划时就曾传达过这一信息。他当时表示：“我们将全面重新定位保时捷，使公司变得更精简、更敏捷，并让产品更具吸引力。”自那时起，保时捷已退出了多项业务，包括在 4 月达成协议，将其持有的 Bugatti Rimac 和 Rimac Group 的股权出售给由纽约投资公司 HOF Capital 牵头的财团。
Porsche’s electrification efforts got off to a strong start with the Taycan in 2019, but the company soon ran into trouble developing follow-on EVs. The Macan Electric was delayed by nearly two years as software development within Volkswagen’s Cariad division lagged behind expectations. The entire company has suffered declining sales in key markets, including North America, where sales fell 11%, and China, where deliveries were off 21% in the first quarter of this year. European sales were also down 18%, though they rose slightly in Germany.
保时捷的电气化进程在 2019 年凭借 Taycan 车型取得了强劲开局，但随后在后续电动车型的开发上遇到了困难。由于大众汽车旗下 Cariad 部门的软件开发进度滞后，Macan 电动版的发布推迟了近两年。保时捷在多个关键市场的销量均出现下滑，其中北美市场销量下降了 11%，今年第一季度中国市场的交付量则下滑了 21%。欧洲市场销量也下降了 18%，尽管在德国本土市场略有增长。
Porsche has blamed EV adoption for its woes, though the company’s continued poor performance in China, where electric vehicles have claimed more than half the market, suggests that consumer acceptance of EVs may not be the root cause. The closure of Cellforce captures the change of fortunes for Porsche’s EV program. The German automaker had originally started the subsidiary to develop and manufacture batteries that would distinguish its EVs from other companies. “The battery cell is the combustion chamber of the future,” Oliver Blume said in 2022 when he chaired Porsche’s executive board.
保时捷将困境归咎于电动汽车的普及程度，但该公司在中国市场的持续疲软表现（中国电动汽车市场份额已超过一半）表明，消费者对电动汽车的接受度可能并非问题的根源。Cellforce 的关闭反映了保时捷电动汽车项目命运的转折。这家德国车企最初成立该子公司是为了研发和制造能使其电动汽车脱颖而出的电池。2022 年，时任保时捷执行董事会主席的 Oliver Blume 曾表示：“电池单元就是未来的燃烧室。”
After struggling to develop EVs in a timely manner, Porsche has shifted much of its new vehicle efforts to reviving some of its internal combustion platforms, which were originally intended to constitute a minority of sales by 2030. The company is still planning to roll out new EVs though, and will soon sunset the gas-powered version of the Porsche Macan. Porsche is expected to bring an all-electric version of the Cayenne, and several variants, to market this year.
在难以按时开发出电动汽车后，保时捷已将大部分新车研发重心转向重启部分内燃机平台——而这些平台原本计划在 2030 年前仅占其销量的一小部分。不过，该公司仍计划推出新的电动车型，并将很快停产燃油版保时捷 Macan。预计保时捷今年将向市场推出纯电动版 Cayenne 及其多个变体车型。