Porsche Australia not worried about penalties from emissions standards

Porsche is known for its petrol-powered sports cars, but it’s banking on its growing range of electric cars to hold it in good stead when new fuel efficiency standards hit Australia.

Porsche Australia boss Daniel Schmollinger told media the brand is “comfortable” with its position if the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) rolls out as proposed by the Federal Government.

“With our electrification strategy – 80 per cent electric by 2030 – I think we will be in a good position,” Mr Schmollinger said.

Porsche already offers the electric Taycan in Australia, and will later this year introduce an electric version of its best-selling Macan SUV.

Last call for the petrol model is rapidly approaching, with the final orders to be taken mid-year.

When it does launch, Porsche is expecting the electric model to slot neatly into the lineup – despite concerns from dealers about the death of the strong-selling petrol.

“We started three years ago with the Taycan. Obviously there were some question marks if the Taycan was the right fit for the market – especially in Australia, that is petrol-oriented,” said Mr Schmollinger.

“The success we saw with the Taycan over the last three years was actually outstanding. It exceeded our expectations and we reached roughly 10 per cent share within our model range, which is from a global point of view an outstanding result.

“Based on this, we have strong beliefs the Macan Electric will follow this path to be also very successful.”

Although Mr Schmollinger is adamant Porsche isn’t interested in chasing a volume target for Australia, the Macan Electric shapes as a crucial car.

With 2925 deliveries in Australia for 2023, it was comfortably the brand’s best-seller ahead of the Cayenne range (1546 deliveries) and the 911 sports car (558).

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