Porsche promises new 911s – and more engines

It can seem like there are fewer reliable points of reference in the car world than ever before. But some things seem guaranteed forever, and one of those will be excitement around limited edition Porsche 911s. Think of the furore around recent S/Ts, Rs, Sport Classics and so on – which is to say nothing of the air-cooled classics. So Porsche is going to make more of them. As part of its financial results release (more on which in a sec), it confirmed that we can anticipate ‘further highly emotive derivatives, especially of the 911.’ 

It’s been a little while since we’ve had a GT2 of any kind, so that would feel like the most obvious contender for a reboot – and would certainly align with the ‘high-yield and exciting limited-edition’ criteria that Porsche says the new 911s will adhere to. But we might be waiting a little while on that, Porsche suggesting that an ‘additional flagship model’ is coming in the medium term. More immediately we can expect a 1970s-themed 911, the third of four – after the Heritage Design Edition Targa and Sport Classic – from the Heritage Design Strategy.

It was a decade of very special 911s, of course, from Turbo to 2.7 RS, so hopes are high for that one whenever it arrives. At the same time – and at just the right time, it might be said – Porsche is extending its personalisation possibilities. So expect some very funky specs of whatever the next super 911s are. Since just the start of this decade, the average revenue of a Porsche with Exclusive Manufaktur options has doubled. Doubled! So that’s why there’s more scope for ‘almost anything that a customer could wish for’. 

As for Porsche’s other dedicated sports car, the electric 718 renewal continues apace. Any suggestion that the Boxster and Cayman could follow the Macan’s lead and continue with a combustion engine alongside the battery-powered one remains nothing more than that. Porsche says the ‘all-electric sports cars in the 718 segment’ will follow the electric Cayenne, which surely can’t be very far away. 

The Porsche SUV line-up is where things begin to get a bit more challenging; it’s simply too lucrative a segment – the Cayenne enjoyed a record year in 2024 – to drop the ball. So it’s going to cover every single base possible. There will be battery-powered and fossil-fuelled Cayennes well into the 2030s; for the moment, the Macan exists as an EV and with petrol power in its previous format, though the latter is being phased out over time. 

But that won’t be the end of a combustion-powered SUV beneath the Cayenne; Porsche is said to be ‘currently evaluating an independent model line in the SUV segment with combustion and hybrid powertrain’. That will almost certainly arrive before the decade is out (for ‘evaluating’ read: developing as quickly as possible), and will doubtless benefit from all that has been learnt in selling just about every possible SUV engine configuration, from a Golf GTI 2.0-litre in a Macan to sharing an Urus V8 hybrid setup in the Cayenne. Ultimately, of course, the decision reflects the reality of the market: anyone who wants a Porsche SUV is eventually going to have a comprehensive choice – be it small, large, petrol, hybrid or electric. 

As for actual sales in 2024, it says a lot about Porsche’s towering recent performance that 5.6 billion euros of profit (£4.7bn at current rates) is a significant drop. For 2023 that number was €7.3bn, so the fall was 22 per cent. Fewer cars were sold in 2024 compared to 2023 (310,718 against 320,221), largely attributable to a slowing China. And there’ll be a reasonable amount of profit in 10,000 Porsches. Last year 27 per cent of Porsches sold were electric or hybrid; that number is expected to climb in 2025 to between 33 and 35 per cent as Porsche invests an extra 800 million euros in, amongst other things, ‘software and battery activities’. 

It mentions ‘rescaling’ also, which is a polite way of saying some jobs will go to benefit efficiency. Porsche reckons that around 1,900 positions will be lost by 2029, plus the expiration (and no subsequent replacement) of 2,000 fixed-term contracts. The former will be achieved through partial retirement measures, natural turnover and some redundancies. It’s part of a wider Road to 20 performance programme, which is the aim of a return on sales of more than 20 per cent. For 2023 it was 18 per cent, and last year 14.1. 

New Porsche Chief Financial Officer Jochen Breckner said of the results: “Porsche has proven in 2024 that we operate highly profitably even in challenging times. In the long term, we remain committed to our fundamental goal of a Group operating return on sales of more than 20 per cent. In the medium term, we are aiming for 15 to 17 per cent due to the persistently challenging environment. We are consciously setting out on a comprehensive recalibration and sustainably strengthening Porsche for the future.” CEO Oliver Blume added that a “clear goal” of “exciting our customers with our iconic sports cars” remains. Bring on those special 911s as soon as possible…