Porsche will close 30% of its dealers in China to save costs for R&D investments, Porsche China CEO Pan Liqi shared. He also denied that the German automaker has plans to establish a production facility in China.
Porsche got in the middle of a scandal in late 2025 as its dealerships were reportedly halting operations in China due to slow sales and financial challenges. In January 2026, the halt escalated into termination for the Zhengzhou Zhongyuan Porsche Center, with the Guiyang Mengguan Porsche Center following shortly. As a result, Porsche China had to manage unresolved deposits and missing vehicle conformity documents on its own.
This big topic was a consequence of continuously declining Porsche sales in China. The automaker delivered 41,938 cars in China in 2025, down 26% year-over-year. Porsche sales have been continuously declining in the Middle Kingdom since 2022, when 95,671 units were sold in the country. In just three years, the German legacy automaker’s sales plummeted by 56.2%. Now, Porsche seems desperate to cut costs in China and slow down the quickening sales slide.
Porsche’s plan in China
As Porsche China CEO Pan Liqi said to Yicai on January 26, the company’s major goal is the implementation of cost-cutting measures. The Chinese branch of the well-known German automaker plans to reduce dealerships by 30% in China. The target goal is 80 dealers by 2026. We will remind you that Porsche China had 150 dealers by the end of 2024, and 114 dealers by the end of 2025.
According to the Porsche China CEO, savings will be used for investments into the company’s first overseas integrated R&D center in Shanghai, which was opened in November last year. Pan Liqi shared that Porsche China is going through a recalibration and adjustment phase. The long-term goal is amplify sales by streamlining the dealer network and launching exclusive models.
Pan Liqi shared that Porsche will add two new models with ICE and PHEV powertrain variants to the lineup by the end of the year, including B and D-segment crossovers. Meanwhile, he denied any localization plans in China. Porsche China CEO highlighted that the company is currently investigating several Chinese suppliers in the intelligent driving solution sector.
The Porsche short-term strategy for 2026 is prioritizing quality over quantity without judging success solely by sales volume. This wording hints that Porsche expects another sales drop in 2026 as it needs time to introduce new products for the local market.
