Add Porsche to the list of automakers backing away from commitments to fully-electric model ranges. According to reports from U.K. outlet Autocar, Porsche is weighing the possibility of adding an internal-combustion engine (ICE) back into the powertrain options for its Macan subcompact SUV. The second generation launched for 2025 solely as a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) midway through last year. Macan is Porsche’s best-selling nameplate in Canada and globally.
The move comes amid a sales drop for Porsche in 2024. Worldwide, the performance manufacturer saw sales fall 7% year over year. Here in Canada, Porsche’s 2024 sales dropped 2.5% relative to 2023. Macan’s Canadian sales ended 2024 at 3,779 units, just shy of 2023’s figure of 3,907 units. However, the previous-generation ICE Macan remains on sale alongside the new Macan EV, and the company’s 2024 sales figures don’t indicate what percentage is comprised of gas-powered versus BEV units.
The Taycan, Porsche’s only other fully electric model, was the brand’s worst-performing nameplate last year amid a global sales drop of 50%.
“We are exploring the possibility of equipping some of the originally planned electric models with hybrid drives or internal-combustion engines in the future,” Porsche AG’s deputy chairman and chief financial officer Lutz Meschke said according to Autocar’s report. “Conceptual decisions are being made, but what is clear is that we are committed to the combustion engine for much longer.”
On a global scale, automakers are grappling with rapidly diverging attitudes, consumer behaviour, and government policies around electric vehicles. Norway currently leads the world in BEV uptake, with nearly 90% of new vehicle sales being fully electrified. In China, battery electric vehicles held a 27% market share in 2024.
However, in other markets — including North America — BEV sales have not kept pace with sales mandates. Although the Macan EV is priced too high to qualify for Canadian EV rebates, it’s not yet clear whether recent announcements around the federal iZEV rebate program’s depletion of funds and the wind-down of Quebec’s Roulez Vert program will undermine consumer confidence in EVs.
Volvo has also walked back on its commitment to fully electric new-car sales by 2030. The brand opted to refresh its gas and PHEV XC90 SUV rather than discontinue it when the BEV equivalent EX90 launched in the latter half of 2024. Other automakers that have publicly tempered their EV rollout plans include Ford, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz.
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