Porsche SE, the holding company controlled by the Porsche and Piëch families, swung to a €2.2 billion loss in the first half of 2026 due to huge writedowns on its stakes in Volkswagen and sports carmaker Porsche.

The Stuttgart-based company had posted a profit of €300 million in the same period last year. Porsche SE recorded a €3 billion impairment on its stake in Volkswagen and a further €200 million writedown on its holding in Porsche AG.

Porsche SE is, for the most part, dependent on the dividends that Volkswagen and Porsche pay out. These dividends are seriously under pressure. The holding tries to compensate for this by becoming less dependent on the automotive industry.

Porsche SE has started funding investments in the defense industry and bought a stake in the German rocket start-up Isar Aerospace and the drone manufacturer Quantum Systems.

The automotive industry is changing

Both Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, and Porsche AG, the holding company’s other major investment, are grappling with difficult market conditions and the sweeping transformation of the automotive industry.

Porsche SE chief executive Hans Dieter Pötsch called for swift decisions on Volkswagen’s cost-cutting program, warning that the Wolfsburg-based carmaker is at “historic crossroads.”

“For the sake of the company and its sustainable competitiveness, everyone must now step up and take responsibility,” Pötsch said. “The longer decisions are delayed, the bigger the problems will become.”

Porsche SE Chief Financial Officer Johannes Lattwein said the holding company, as Volkswagen’s majority voting shareholder, backed the carmaker’s management board and its proposals.

The goal was to restore competitiveness, he said, adding that no options should be ruled out in achieving it. Otherwise, Volkswagen risked falling permanently behind its international competitors.

Porsche SE’s net debt declined slightly to €5 billion at the end of June. The company maintained its full-year outlook for adjusted group earnings of between €1.5 billion and €3.5 billion. It also continues to expect net debt of between €4.7 billion and €5.2 billion at the end of the year.

Hot autumn

It remains clear that a hot autumn can be expected at Volkswagen. As its majority voting shareholder, Porsche SE is, of course, very interested in a company that makes huge profits again.

On the other side, there are the approximately 650,000 workers in the Volkswagen Group, interested in something different: keeping their work and their income.

Knowing that in Germany, workers are directly represented in a company’s board structure and that the Land of Saxony is also an important minority shareholder in Volkswagen, negotiations about drastic restructuring won’t be easy.

Meanwhile, the most important brand in the Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen, is not only focusing on restructuring its business in Europe, but also on developing a new industrial fabric worldwide, where VW China plays a major role.

In a separate article, we look at what might be coming from China to Europe (and the rest of the world) but not from a Chinese manufacturer but a European one accelerating the development and production of cars in China.