Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

Every fourth employee at the German luxury sports car and SUV manufacturer Porsche could be at risk of being laid off due to the company’s plans to move part of its development work abroad, Azernews reports.

This was stated by Porsche Production Council Chairman Ibrahim Aslan.

“The management has not yet presented a clear vision for the future of our German operations, but instead is threatening to relocate development and production to countries with significantly lower wages,” Aslan said, commenting on ongoing negotiations about further cost-cutting measures. According to him, this strategy could put “every fourth position at Porsche AG” at risk, DPA reports.

The main plant in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, the research center in Weissach (Böblingen district), and several smaller sites employ around 23,000 people in total. In theory, this means that up to 5,500 jobs could be affected, DPA points out.

Aslan aims to guarantee job security at least until 2035. Currently, the employment guarantee is valid until mid-2030, but conditions could change after that. Previously, Porsche management repeatedly emphasized that it is discussing with employee representatives ways to reduce personnel costs, though the exact savings target has not been disclosed.

In the first half of 2025, Porsche’s net profit fell to €338 million, while adjusted profit dropped from €2.1 billion to €1.1 billion year-on-year. In February, the company announced the first restructuring of its board of directors. According to current plans, around 1,900 jobs are expected to be cut at the main plants in Zuffenhausen and Weissach by 2029.

Amid these developments, the industry is also closely watching another source of pressure on Porsche — the rapid rise of Chinese premium car brands, which offer high-tech sports models at lower prices. Experts suggest that this growing competition may be accelerating Porsche’s decisions to move some development abroad and reduce production costs.