Porsche Might Abandon EVs — But Only in One Country

Welcome to the gladiator arena of the automotive world, where even Porsche — a brand that usually lets you time-travel through the decades at the wheel of a 911 — is pausing to catch its breath. Not in Germany. Not in America. But in China, the land where your car is expected to look like a smartphone on wheels and cost less than a maxed-out iPhone Pro with a designer case.

At the Shanghai Auto Show, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume dropped a bombshell: “We might stop selling EVs in China.” Why? Because, quite frankly, no one is buying them. Porsche’s electric cars are expensive. The Chinese market is responding with a polite but firm “Thanks, but no thanks. We’ve got the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra over here—it’s a quarter of the price and looks just as good. Possibly better.”

Porsche sales in China nosedived 28% last year. In Stuttgart, there are now very real discussions happening: is it even worth continuing the electric push when a Taycan sits in showrooms lonelier than a meatball at a vegan food fair?

But don’t expect Porsche to jump into any price wars or start churning out “China-only” budget specials. That’s not their style. There are no long-wheelbase Porsche variants like Audi, BMW, or even Jaguar have crafted for the Chinese market. Porsche plays by different rules—and those rules do not include compromise.

So what happens next? The fate of the electric dream in China now rests on the shoulders of the upcoming Macan EV. Later this year, the Cayenne EV will follow. If these two don’t turn the tide, Porsche in China could become little more than a name on a poster. Or worse—just a trending hashtag on TikTok.

And let’s not forget: Blume made it clear that the Xiaomi SU7 isn’t a “real” competitor. Of course not, dear Oliver. It might be fast, clever, and slick, but it doesn’t grab your soul in a corner the way a Taycan Turbo GT can. Then again... a fourfold price difference? Really?