German luxury carmaker Porsche plans to intensify its cost-cutting programme and is demanding far-reaching concessions from its workforce, local media reported late on Wednesday.
The Volkswagen subsidiary has been hit hard by US tariffs and a collapse in the luxury market in China, while executing a costly U-turn on electric vehicles due to a lack of demand.
The new cuts focus on Porsche’s main plant in Zuffenhausen, north of Stuttgart, and at its nearby development centre in Weissach, according to reports in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and Stuttgarter Zeitung newspapers.
Measures under consideration include the outsourcing of entire operating units and vehicle projects.
The plans reportedly include scrapping one-off payments and employment anniversary bonuses. Pension provisions are also to be reduced. The plans include references to “job cuts among employees” and the “external relocation” of services, as well as a reduction in apprentices and guaranteed employment offers for trainees.
Other measures include “adjustments” to working-from-home arrangements and working hours, as well as an “increase in flexibility,” the newspapers reported, based on documents they had seen.
A Porsche spokesman said the automotive industry faced immense challenges and that the carmaker’s future depended on being competitive.
“To achieve this, we need to tackle every area,” the spokesman said. “In view of the changed conditions, significant cost optimizations are absolutely essential.”
He said that “confidential” discussions were ongoing with employee representatives regarding a new set of measures.