Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking has said he sees no reason why Ferdinand Piëch should not remain on the Volkswagen supervisory board. Piëch’s term on the board ends at the next annual general meeting in April.
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Speaking to the German Press Agency in Detroit, Wiedeking also said that the outlook for the 2006/07 financial results has improved since a few weeks ago.
The Porsche financial year ends on 31 July, and Wiedeking had said that it would be unlikely that the sports car specialist would repeat its exceptional pre-tax profit level of 2005/06.
Wiedeking said, however, that business was good and that there will be a positive impact from its shareholding in Volkswagen. More details are expected at the company’s annual general meeting at the end of January.
“Half year figures have turned out to be quite good,” said Wiedeking.
At Detroit, Porsche is showing the second generation Cayenne. Wideking said that the luxury SUV has nothing to fear from the competition in the premium offroad segment, and that advance orders are good, better than for the first model.
The new Cayenne is 15% more fuel efficient than its predecessor, something that should help sales in the US where fuel consumption is currently a hot subject.
Wiedeking said that more than 150,000 Cayennes have been produced since the model was launched. This is more than the 20-25,000 units expected each year. 60,000 have been sold in North America.
The US market is considered critical to Porsche, and the CEO said that Russia and China would be important growth markets.
Porsche sales director Klaus Berning said Porsche had never taken part in ‘absurd’ price wars in the US, and will never do so.
