Porsche takes aim at Ferrari with luxury supercar concept

Porsche AG unveiled a concept previewing a new supercar that will be positioned above the 911 in its lineup, part of the German automaker's bet that more expensive models can help revive its battered profit margins.

The low-slung Mission S, with a roof-mounted air intake and racing-inspired headlights, is the most concrete manifestation yet of chief executive officer Michael Leiters' planned turnaround for the storied marque. Porsche is developing it not as another limited-run hypercar, but as a sustained push into Ferrari NV territory.

The supercar's mid-engine platform will be flexible, able to accommodate gas-electric hybrid or pure internal-combustion powertrains, Leiters said in a Bloomberg TV interview. The exact engine configuration is "still a secret" but "it will be something which is very much in line with the DNA of Porsche."


Although he declined to specify a price point, Leiters said the vehicle will cost "much more" than a 911.

The Volkswagen AG unit is fighting to rebuild a business battered by collapsing sales in China, US trade tariffs and costly electrification missteps. Porsche is cutting jobs, paring back management ranks and trimming development spending as it shrinks for a tougher era, and plans to claw back profits by moving further upmarket.

The strategy brings Porsche closer to Ferrari's playbook of prioritising exclusivity and pricing power over sales volume. Leiters is betting that selling fewer cars at significantly higher average prices can restore the margins Porsche once enjoyed, with the Mission S spearheading the effort.

Porsche presented the new car on a pier in Queens, New York, where, in the early 1950s, it photographed the 550 Spyder - the small, lightweight racer driven by Hollywood actor James Dean that helped establish the brand in the US.