Overview
- Michael Leiters, formerly McLaren CEO and a onetime Porsche and Ferrari executive, has been appointed Porsche CEO effective 1 January 2026.
- Oliver Blume will step down from Porsche at year-end and remain Volkswagen Group CEO under a contract now running through 2030.
- Investor representatives and the VW works council had long criticized Blume’s dual role, and the change ends the two-company leadership arrangement.
- Porsche is navigating weaker demand in China, U.S. tariff and currency pressures, multiple 2025 profit warnings, a scaled-back EV strategy with multi‑billion‑euro costs, and planned job reductions of about 1,900 in the Stuttgart region.
- Bild reported that Volkswagen faces an €11 billion free cash flow shortfall in 2026, prompting broader cost cuts and potential asset sales, a claim the company has not officially confirmed.