Porsche sells fewer cars in first half of year

German luxury carmaker Porsche has once again sold fewer vehicles in the first half of the year, partly due to the struggling business in China.

From January to June, around 146,400 sports and off-road vehicles were delivered worldwide, 6% fewer than in the same period last year, Porsche said on Tuesday from its headquarters in the south-western city of Stuttgart.

Porsche's sales had fallen by 3% to some 310,700 vehicles already in the previous financial year.

In China, just over 21,300 cars were delivered in the first six months, or 28% fewer than a year earlier. A significant reason for this, the comany said, is the still tense economic situation in the People's Republic and the intense competition there.

In Germany and the rest of Europe, sales figures also showed a noticeable decline in some cases.

Shopping spree ahead of tariffs?

With 43,577 deliveries, things went better for Porsche in North America. The increase was mainly due to more cars being available in the market than in the previous year, according to the information provided.

Additionally, there were price guarantees because of higher US import tariffs. Numerous customers are likely to have secured a vehicle before the price guarantees no longer apply and they have to pay extra.

Porsche also recorded a plus in overseas and growth markets such as Africa, Latin America, Australia, Japan and Korea.

New electric Macan selling well

The company renewed several model series last year. The compact SUV Macan was particularly popular - the best-selling model in the first half of the year.

The sports car manufacturer, which is majority-owned by the Volkswagen Group, delivered more than 45,100 units of it - an increase of 15%. More than half of these were the all-electric variant. The Panamera also recorded growth.

There was a significant drop in sales for the previously strongest-selling model, the Cayenne. Additionally, deliveries of classics like the 911 and the all-electric Taycan also declined.

No quick improvement in sight

A total of 23.5% of the Porsche vehicles sold were pure electric cars.

"The all-electric Macan makes a decisive contribution to our electrification rate," said sales director Matthias Becker.

He stated that it has been possible to keep the sales volume stable across the sales regions, despite the ongoing geopolitical challenges.

In the second half of the year, Becker expects a still challenging environment.