Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 26, 2025
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Luxury carmaker Porsche replaced its CFO and head of sales on Wednesday with two company veterans as it reshuffles its board in the hopes of reviving flagging performance and a weak share price.
The company announced late on Tuesday that Jochen Breckner, at Porsche for 25 years and head of corporate development since 2018, will oversee finances and IT. Matthias Becker, formerly at Audi and Skoda and head of overseas markets for Porsche since 2015, will lead sales and marketing.
Their predecessors are leaving by mutual agreement, the carmaker said.
Porsche's board started talks to end finance chief Lutz Meschke's and sales executive Detlev von Platen's contracts in early February, after both came under heavy criticism for the company's poor performance and weak share price.
The carmaker, which at its stock market debut in 2022 was valued higher than its parent company Volkswagen AG, has fallen from grace since then, struggling to get EV sales off the ground and suffering from weak demand in China, its top market.
Its shares dropped to their lowest value since listing on the stock market earlier this month after the carmaker warned the cost of new models and battery-related expenses would dent its 2025 margins to just 10-12% this year, below analysts' expectations.
Meschke will remain on the board of Porsche SE, an investment firm controlled by the Piech and Porsche families which owns 12.5% of Porsche and is also Volkswagen's top shareholder.
(Reporting by Tom Sims, Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Louise Heavens)
