SteveR Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Not sure how likely this is to be correct, but, there's no smoke without fire? REPORT: Porsche facing dire times, actually skirted bankruptcy in March These are some confusing times in the automotive world. For the past few years, it seemed as though Porsche was primed to rule the world. It was selling plenty of product, and more importantly, it was quickly gobbling up shares of German juggernaut Volkswagen. Dried-up credit markets and slow sales have conspired to put a big wrench in Porsche's plans, though. We already knew that the Stuttgart sports car (and SUV) maker has ditched plans to take over VW and instead plans to merge the two companies. German magazine Der Spiegel (via The Local) is reporting that times are so tight at Porsche that it actually skirted bankruptcy for three days in March. The German automaker received a 700 million euro loan ($978 million USD) from VW to stay out of trouble, but needs another 2.5 billion euros (nearly $3.5B USD) to stay in business. Porsche has tried to tap the German government to receive more loans to pare down the enormous debt it had incurred in attempting to buy VW. In fact, Porsche, which sells fewer than 100,000 vehicles per year, has accrued an astonishing 9 billion euros worth of debt (around $12.6B USD). That's 50% more debt than Chrysler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Not sure how likely this is to be correct, but, there's no smoke without fire? REPORT: Porsche facing dire times, actually skirted bankruptcy in March Confused.... I always thought that they were the steadiest of all the car manufacturers..!! H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I got a press release about this earlier... it seems they had to buy VW in order to bail themselves out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 Confused.... I always thought that they were the steadiest of all the car manufacturers..!! H. They are a small-numbers manufacturer and relatively small as a result I think; Toyota dwarf the likes of Porsche. Don't forget thet Porsche made 8~10 times as much money from dabbling with the stock market in 2008 than they did from selling carsin teh same year (I forget the exact multiples). Crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 I got a press release about this earlier... it seems they had to buy VW in order to bail themselves out. I find it quite weird! P.S. congrats on 7,999 posts - make the next one extra special! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Kenny Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I read the other day that Porsche was one of the only manufacturers to make a profit this year... O_o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 IIRC Porsche have a large pile of debt, presumably built up over previous years or recent risky acquisitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.