German sportscar-maker Porsche said Tuesday it would not make vehicles in the United States even as its Volkswagen Group sister brand Audi plans a new American plant. “As things stand, should an Audi plant be built in the U.S., we do not plan to relocate Porsche production there,” finance boss Jochen Breckner said on an earnings call, days after Audi’s CEO courted controversy by announcing the plant alongside U.S. President Donald Trump at a U.S. political rally. “The business case would not be advantageous for us, given the complexity of our product range, our lower production volumes and the additional investment that would be required,” Breckner said. The American market has grown in importance for both brands and their parent, the wider Volkswagen Group, as they have sought to offset collapsing sales in China. The brands currently share a factory in Slovakia, which makes Audi’s Q7 and Q8 SUVs, as well as similarly large Porsche Cayennes, the Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Superb. A U.S. tariff of 15 percent imposed on car imports by President Trump last year has also hit Audi and Porsche particularly hard since -- unlike peers BMW and Mercedes-Benz -- they have no U.S. production. Audi CEO Gernot Doellner on Saturday told a Republican campaign event that Audi was “making a long-term investment” with its new plant in the state of Georgia. “We believe in the North American market,” he told a cheering audience as Trump stood beside him on stage. German politicians and unions harshly criticised the appearance which came just days before midterm elections. Reporting results for the first nine months of the year, Porsche said it made net profit of 1.82 billion euros (US$2.03 billion), up from 114 million euros over the same time last year. The firm’s profits were last year virtually wiped out by a 3.1-billion-euro writedown booked after Porsche rejigged its product line following tepid demand for electric models. Porsche is also cutting 9,000 jobs as part of the Volkswagen Group’s wider cost-cutting and restructuring drive.
