Porsche accelerates move to country's new energy segment

German luxury carmaker Porsche AG is scheduled to introduce two more new energy models into China, its largest single market worldwide for four consecutive years, as part of the automaker's efforts to solidify its presence in the country's new energy market.

Taycan, the first full electric fourseat sports car from Porsche, will come to China in 2020 after its world premiere this year.

"This is the first such kind of car that describes our way to the future," said Jens Puttfarcken, president and CEO of Porsche China, at a news conference held by the automaker on Thursday in Beijing.

Taycan is the mass-production model of Porsche's concept model Mission E. With a system power of 440 kilowatts, a top speed of more than 250 kilometers per hour and an acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h of less than 3.5 seconds, Mission E has inherited the sports car gene from Porsche, according to the automaker. Dealing well with multiple starts in succession and maintaining a powerful performance, the Mission E is said to be able to handle track driving. And the model can fully meet the driving needs of daily life, thanks to its top range of 500 km and advanced intelligent and connectivity functions.

In addition, Macan, one of Porsche's best-selling models, will appear in an electric variant in the coming decade, which will be the automaker's first all electric compact sports utility vehicle. In fact, some of the automaker's attempts to develop new energy vehicle already appear in existing Porsche products, such as the Cayenne E-Hybrid.

As a plug-in hybrid model of the third-generation Cayenne, the Cayenne E-Hybrid made its China premiere at the Guangzhou auto show last November; the car features enhanced overall performance thanks to its performance-oriented design.

Every Porsche, including the new energy models, is a sports car, in the sense that they offer the same Porsche driving experience and pure Porsche feeling, Puttfarcken noted.

According to the automaker, Porsche will have invested a total of more than 6 billion euros ($6.82 billion) in electrification by 2022. And 50 percent of the automaker's new models will be either full electric cars or plug-in hybrid ones by 2025.

In 2018, Porsche delivered 80,108 units of new cars in China, an increase of 12 percent from the previous year, which stands for 31 percent of the automaker's global sales, followed by the United Sates with 22 percent.

"China is not only the largest market for Porsche, but also the market that has the biggest increase," the CEO noted. As of now, Porsche operates 116 sales outlets in China, of which 14 were newly established last year. Two more new dealer stores are scheduled to be founded in China this year.

Puttfarcken mentioned that there are possibilities for Porsche to go to some China's third- and fourth-tier cities, as the automaker has noticed the customers' passion for Porsche there.