What Challenges Will New Porsche CEO Michael Leiters Face?

Following the announcement of Michael Leiter's appointment as the new Porsche CEO on 17 October, current CEO Oliver Blume will be delivering his last quarterly report at the end of October.

He is expected to announce a substantial operating loss, primarily due to a large decrease in sales in China and pressure from US tariffs.

According to the average forecast of 15 analysts polled by Visible Alpha, the loss is estimated at €611m (US$713m) for the third quarter of 2025 against a €974m (US$1.1tn) profit last year.

The figures also reflect the German sports car maker’s costly reversal of its shift to electric cars, announced on 19 September.

The company said the pull-back on its EV rollout is down to weaker demand for luxury EVs and pressure from the Chinese and US markets.

Porsche said: “Due to the delayed ramp-up of electromobility, the market launch of certain all-electric vehicle models is planned to take place at a later date.”

Acknowledging the company’s recent changes due to shifts in Porsche’s two biggest markets, Oliver said: “That is why we have structurally realigned the company this year and comprehensively expanded our product strategy.”

He believes Porsche is “robustly positioned” for years to come.

Discussing the decision to appoint the former McLaren CEO, Dr Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche, said: “Dr Michael Leiters has decades of experience in the automotive industry. 

“His leadership style and in-depth expertise are ideal prerequisites for successfully chairing the Executive Board of Porsche AG.

“He and the entire Executive Board team at Porsche AG enjoy the confidence of the Supervisory Board in overcoming the current challenges.”

The EV era

The new CEO is tasked with leading into an era of electric cars, although Porsche has faced its own challenges when it comes to being one of the key EV makers in Europe’s auto sector.

Reuters reports that since listing in 2022, the company has lost around half of its market value.

According to Reuters, Ingo Speich, Head of Sustainability and Corporate Governance at Deko Investment - which holds around US$28m of Porsche stock -  said: “After several profit warnings in a year, visibility for the business model remains very limited.

“Porsche faces a major challenge: in the luxury sports car segment, electric vehicles have not yet been accepted by customers. The key question is: will the new CEO succeed in leading Porsche into the electric vehicle segment?”

Electric vs combustion 

The Financial Times has previously reported that Porsche’s new boss was sceptical about the use of battery motors for luxury vehicles when he was CEO of British supercar manufacturer McLaren.

He said in an interview with the Financial Times when he was in his past role that “the technology isn’t ready”, that EVs lack the emotional thrill of noisy engines and are “quicker to lose their value”.

The decision to stay with combustion engines comes with its risks -  according to Metzler Research analyst Pal Skirta.

Discussing the u-turn, Pal said: “That’s the risk of the strategy that they will focus too much on combustion engine vehicles, and then we’ll lose the EV race in the long run.”

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Sajjad Khan, Porsche board member for IT and software, said the quality of their cars and technologies will be better in 2026 and 2027.

He said: “We have to work hard to execute perfectly.”

Michael will be tasked with leading the decision to stick with the u-turn or make greater commitments to EVs.

Discussing the new CEO, who is taking over on 1 January 2026, Oliver said: “I am delighted that Michael Leiters, an experienced professional in the sports car business, is taking on the role.

“He and the new management team have my full confidence. I wish them every success.”