Porsche’s new CEO is a luxury leader big on hybrids

[BERLIN] Porsche named Michael Leiters its next chief executive officer, tapping a German engineer who has honed his luxury-car skills at McLaren Automotive and Ferrari to steer a turnaround.

Leiters, 54, will take over in January from Oliver Blume, who will helm parent Volkswagen for five more years, the manufacturer said on Friday (Oct 17). Leiters has a long track record of pushing hybrid models, starting with the successful Cayenne SUV during his earlier stint at Porsche.

The executive rejoins the 911 maker as it’s cutting jobs and pivoting back towards hybrids and combustion-engine cars after an expensive electrification strategy that has depressed margins. Porsche is also grappling with tariff costs and slumping sales in China, where local manufacturers led by BYD and Xiaomi are pushing electric vehicles (EVs) decked with premium features at low prices.

Porsche has “a long road ahead”, RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said. “Tariff challenges in the US and declining sales in China will be difficult to overcome.”

Leiters will need to balance investments in new models with pressure to cut costs in Germany, where Porsche is in talks with labour leaders on additional efficiency measures. He may also have to make changes in the US, its biggest single market, where the company does not have a factory to offset US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs.

The German native is taking on the Porsche top job at a tough time, with Volkswagen’s once-dependable profit centre having lowered its financial outlook four times this year. Its share price has fallen so low, by around a quarter in 2025, that Porsche has dropped out of the DAX, Germany’s benchmark index.

Battered by waning demand for its Taycan EV and rising production costs, the German manufacturer has shelved plans for a battery-powered luxury SUV, delayed several other electric models and announced plans to add more hybrid and combustion-engine vehicles to bolster its lineup.

Leiters may be a good fit to lead that overhaul due to his extensive production and technology experience. An engineer by training, he started his auto-industry career at Porsche in 2000 and spent 13 years at the company, overseeing development of the hybrid Cayenne and later the entire model line.

First introduced more than two decades ago, the Cayenne has helped Porsche expand from a sports-car brand into a broader luxury performance nameplate. The SUV was the company’s best-selling model as recently as 2024. Leiters then worked as technology chief at Ferrari for eight years before moving on to become CEO of McLaren, a post he left in April.

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Leiters tried to improve quality at the British supercar maker, including by fixing the hybrid Artura, but could not fully turn around the company’s financial performance. He also backed plans to enter the SUV market.

At Ferrari, he was instrumental in launching the company’s first plug-in hybrid, the roughly 1,000-horsepower SF90 Stradale. Leiters also joined the early development of the Purosangue, helping to open up the highly profitable supercar maker to sport utility vehicles.

It’s a challenging time for luxury nameplates. BMW, Mercedes and Audi continue to struggle in China, where their electric models, so far, fall short on price and software. US tariffs and tepid sales in Europe add to challenges in the near term.

And even as Porsche rows back on its EV ambitions, top-end carmakers still need to find a way to stay relevant in the electric age. Ferrari’s coming-out party this month for its first EV, the Elettrica, was marred by financial projections that disappointed investors. The company also walked back its EV targets.

Porsche, meanwhile, is preparing to launch an electric version of the Cayenne in the coming months, a key test for the model Leiters knows so well. BLOOMBERG