Porsche Warns of Challenging Second Half After 6% Sales Decline | Company Business News

(Bloomberg) — Porsche AG warned of a tough road ahead for sales this year after a slowdown in the lucrative US market and persistent weakness in China.

The sportscar maker’s global deliveries fell 6% in the first half of the year, an improvement on the sharper decline recorded in the first quarter. In North America, where Porsche relies solely on imports, growth slowed to 10%, from a 37% surge in the three months through March.

“We expect the environment to remain challenging,” Matthias Becker, Porsche’s board member for sales and marketing, said Tuesday in a statement. The company cited fierce competition in China as the main factor behind its 28% sales slump in the world’s biggest auto market.

European luxury-car makers are losing momentum in the US and continue to fall behind in China, where local brands are taking over. Mercedes-Benz Group AG on Monday said its sales dropped 10% in the second quarter after President Donald Trump’s tariffs curbed deliveries in the US and China. Porsche is one of the manufacturers most exposed to the levies because it lacks a factory in the US. 

Addressing its performance in China, the Volkswagen AG-controlled brand pointed to fierce competition in the luxury and electric-vehicle segments that are increasingly dominated by homegrown manufacturers led by BYD Co.

Global sales of the 911 fell 9% due to the phased introduction of updated versions. The Macan sport utility vehicle was the brand’s top performer, with sales up 15% in the first half — almost 60% of them the all-electric version.

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