Porsche CEO says Volkswagen ties 'should play a role' amid U.S. tariff threat

Porsche's CEO Oliver Blume on Wednesday said the company could lean into its partnership with Volkswagen — which has its own U.S. manufacturing base — as it braces for potential tariffs imposed by the White House.

"We have an industrial cooperation agreement together with Volkswagen, and in the end, we are working so close together, so this should play a role" in responding to tariffs, Blume told CNBC's Annette Weisbach.

The U.S. is Porsche's top market, but the company's lack of assembly operations in the country have left it potentially vulnerable to a U.S. trade war with the European Union. Porsche's main plants are based in Germany.

While listed separately, the 911-maker is part of the Volkswagen Group, along with brands including Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Skoda, Seat, and Volkswagen itself. Blume is chief executive of both Volkswagen Group and Porsche.

"My hope is there will be an agreement between Europe and the U.S. ... I'm counting on a fair solution between the regions," Blume told CNBC.

"On the other side, we are investing heavily in the U.S. in terms of partnerships, services, our own organization, our dealer network. We are employing many, many people in the U.S. Besides this, being connected to the Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen Group is investing over 15 billion euro in the U.S.," he continued, pointing out the conglomerate's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and investment in South Carolina.

"This should play a role when it comes to a fair agreement there," he added.

Monitoring the latest trade rhetoric, reprieves and actions stemming from the White House has become a daily challenge for businesses in the autos industry and beyond.

Volkswagen is also expected to be hammered hard by U.S. duties on its North American neighbors via its assembly plants in Mexico, though it is currently benefitting from a delay to tariffs on its Volkswagen-branded vehicles under a temporary deal. This exempts vehicles from U.S. tariffs as long as at least 75% of their parts originate from North America.

Whether Trump will follow through on his threat of blanket 25% tariffs on EU imports remains to be seen. Tensions nevertheless ratcheted up Wednesday as the bloc announced upcoming tariffs on billions of dollars worth of U.S. goods, in response to U.S. duties on steel and aluminum.

The auto industry was also rattled on Tuesday by Trump's warning that he would "substantially increase" tariffs on cars coming from Canada into the U.S. unless "egregious, long time Tariffs" were dropped by the nation.

Porsche on Wednesday reported an annual drop in operating profit to 5.6 billion euros ($6.1 billion) in 2024, down from 7.28 billion euros in the previous year. Group sales revenue dipped 1% to 40.1 billion euros.

The company blamed a tense market situation in China, supply chains disruptions and a delay in the global ramp-up of electromobility for the weaker performance as it held its dividend steady.

It also announced further job cuts that will take its workforce reduction to nearly 4,000 as it looks to reduce costs amid market uncertainty.

Blume told CNBC it was an "intense, challenging, but also successful" year, with a plunge in China sales and a slower-than-expected ramp-up of electric mobility in Europe and North America remained key issues.

Discussing the latter trend, Blume said Porsche would continue to invest in innovation, while calling for industry, communities and politicians to support the EV transition through developing charging infrastructure.

He also said that the company's strategy in China, Porsche's second-biggest market, was to prioritize value over volumes, showcasing the quality of its vehicles and focusing on standing out in areas such as in-car intelligence.

"In China, we have faced a pricing war, a discount war, and we are not joining this," he said.

Competition from Chinese competitors, particularly in the EV market from the likes of BYD, is presenting a challenge for automakers around the world.