China to play bigger role for Porsche in post-pandemic era

China has significantly aided Porsche recover its business lost during the coronavirus pandemic and the country is expected to play an even more important role in the post-pandemic era, said the German premium sports carmaker's CEO Oliver Blume.

Blume made the remarks when Porsche launched the all-new Panamera online on Wednesday night. Porsche topped the list of European carmakers in the first half of the year with a profit of 1.23 billion euros, which he said is partly attributed to its performance in China.

"Of course, China's rapid economic recovery is one important reason behind our business recovery," he said. "After all, China is the largest market for Panamera and for Porsche as a whole."

China's auto sales saw its first monthly rise this year in April, with deliveries up 4.4 percent to 2.07 million, when car plants in many other countries remained closed, according to the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers.

Blume said the country's resilience and fast economic recovery was surprising to many, adding that he admired Chinese people's great courage, innovation and self-discipline.

Porsche China sales in February slumped 60 percent year-on-year due to the novel coronavirus, but the market began recovering in March and has returned to normal in the months since then.

Blume said China has led in Porsche's recovery on a global scale, and thus boosted the company's sales and profitability. "It is playing an ever more important role for us," he said.

In an interview in July, Porsche China President and CEO Jens Puttfarcken expected the company's China sales this year to be on par with 2019 levels despite the coronavirus.

In 2019, the carmaker delivered 86,752 vehicles in the country, up 8 percent from 2018. The country has been Porsche's largest market for five years in a row.

Blume said Porsche designed the all-new Panemera bearing in mind specific requirements of the Chinese customers in terms of comfort and dynamics.

It has launched the Executive model with a long wheelbase and the plug-in hybrid version. In China, 40 percent of Panamera buyers choose the Executive models.

Back in 2009, Porsche launched the first-generation Panamera in Shanghai.

The four-door grand turismo's popularity has grown in the country over the years. It is now Panamera's largest market.

From 2009 to 2019, Porsche sold 235,400 Panameras around the globe, with 29 percent of those vehicles delivered to Chinese customers.

Blume said Porsche's China team has also helped in the new model's digitalization and connectivity.

"China has advanced digitalized services and it ranks first in terms of digital device use," Blume said. "Porsche team China offered us many new solutions and improved the new model's functions in these aspects."