New and used

Porsche Holding Salzburg promises affordable cars

(Bild: Porsche Holding)

Porsche Holding Salzburg has felt the effects of the slump in the car market in 2024. Despite the current mood of crisis in the automotive industry, Europe's largest car dealership company believes it is in a stable position for 2025. And is making promises to new and used car customers.

New car sales fell by 7.5 percent compared to the strong previous year, but were in line with the five-year average at 691,758 vehicles. In the used car segment, the globally active Salzburg-based company recorded an increase of 4.2 percent to 221,401 cars. The number of dealer locations fell to 498 (minus 29). The number of employees in the 29 countries in which the holding company operates rose to 37,361 (plus 4 percent).

Customers can look forward to discounts
Despite the generally poor economy, car sales picked up in the second half of this year and will continue "horizontally" in 2025, said Hans Peter Schützinger, CEO of the holding company, at the annual press conference on Wednesday. Overall, there will be more discounts for buyers on the domestic new car market again, and offers will become more attractive again once the supply chain problems are over.

"All-clear" in view of the savings program at VW
Schützinger was cautious but optimistic about the extensive savings program announced at Volkswagen. Porsche Holding Salzburg will not be reducing its workforce or dealer network. "From today's perspective, I can give the all-clear," said the Holding boss. The manufacturers' cost-cutting programs are essentially an industry issue and not a dealer issue.

In Austria, the number of employees is stable. The increase in the number of jobs was primarily due to acquisitions. The worldwide dealer network grew considerably this year in July with the takeover of management responsibility for Italy and Sweden from the VW Group. Austria is now the second largest market for Porsche Holding Salzburg after Italy. According to Schützinger, the entire holding company will benefit from the experience gained in Sweden, the number one e-car country. In China, the volume business is still going very well, but the economic slowdown is being felt. "We are continuing to move sideways here," explained Schützinger.

Cheap used cars with visual flaws
Globally, the holding company has mainly invested in the premium and luxury class this year, and this will not change in 2025. "We have to look at the cash flow," emphasized the holding company boss. At the same time, the less affluent customers were not forgotten. A new sales channel for cars up to ten years old with minor visual damage was introduced for the used car sector, with around 7,000 vehicles sold to date.

Porsche Holding boss Hans Peter Schützinger(Bild: Kawka)

Increase in one-day registrations expected
On the domestic market in Austria, Schützinger expects a market share of 39 percent this year, although he anticipates that competitors will minimally shift their market shares shortly before the end of the year in order to achieve their annual targets with one-day registrations. Porsche Holding will not participate in this. The future of the automobile is electric, even if sales of purely electric cars have recently been slower. The demand for hybrid drives was all the stronger. "Austrians love hybrids," said Schützinger.

He used the annual press conference to drum up publicity for the VW Group's iD.3. After deducting the 5,000-euro e-car bonus, the entry-level model costs 21,000 euros (excluding VAT) and is therefore priced in line with the best-selling car in Austria, the VW Golf. This year, more than 20 new models of all drive types were presented by the VW Group, which are now fully available.

New car market not at pre-corona level
Across all brands, the domestic passenger car market grew by 5.2 percent to 232,100 new registrations from January to November. In contrast, the market for purely electric vehicles is lagging behind the previous year - 40,359 new registrations represent a decline of 7.4 percent. "A closer look at the figures shows that the car market continues to weaken due to the overall economic situation and that around 50,000 vehicles have been lost for the fifth time in a row. Vehicles that we also lack in the Service department," Schützinger points out.

In March 2025, Porsche Holding Salzburg will present its annual results for 2024. In 2023, it achieved record sales of 29.4 billion euros. At 747,700 vehicles, new car sales were up 13.9 percent on 2022, while 212,400 used cars were sold (up 12 percent).