Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

Porsche AG, the iconic sports car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, will no longer be part of the DAX index — Germany’s benchmark stock market index, which includes the 40 most valuable and influential publicly traded companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Azernews reports.

The removal comes after a significant drop in Porsche AG’s market value, driven by sluggish sales and broader economic challenges affecting the German automotive sector. Over the past year, the company's shares have fallen by approximately 30%, reflecting investor concerns over weakening global demand, supply chain disruptions, and the costly transition to electric vehicles.

This marks not only a setback for Porsche AG, but also highlights a broader crisis in the German automotive industry, traditionally one of the cornerstones of the country’s economy. As stock prices of major automakers have declined, the overall weight of the auto sector in the DAX index has steadily diminished.

Interestingly, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, a separate entity and Volkswagen’s largest shareholder (31.9%), remains in the DAX. The holding company also owns about 12.5% of Porsche AG and operates primarily as an investment firm, making it less susceptible to the operational risks facing automakers.

In addition to Porsche AG, Sartorius AG, a major supplier of pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment, is also being removed from the DAX. Both companies will be transferred to the MDAX index, which tracks medium-sized publicly traded firms in Germany.

They will be replaced by Scout24, a leading real estate and property listings platform, and GEA Group, a global manufacturer of industrial processing equipment. This shift reflects a broader rebalancing of the German economy, where sectors like real estate and industrial technology are gaining ground over traditional heavyweights like automotive manufacturing.

Porsche AG’s exit from the DAX is not just financial — it’s symbolic. It represents the growing pressure on legacy automakers to adapt rapidly to an evolving global market, with increasing competition from EV startups, tightening environmental regulations, and changing consumer preferences.

The question now is whether Porsche AG can reverse the trend, stabilize its market position, and eventually return to the top tier of German business — or whether its DAX departure signals a deeper, longer-term shift in the economic landscape.