Driven by the influx of luxury cars, especially in China, USA and Germany, the sports car maker Porsche has enjoyed a brilliant start quarter. Both sales and operating profit reached new records between January and March.

The Porsche AG in Stuttgart said on Thursday that a watershed is located in the ranking of the most important markets: China ranks first over the USA in sales for the first time in the Porsche history.

In Asia’s vast empire, with its rapidly growing number of wealthy people, Porsche sold 7099 cars in the first three months, representing an increase of 79.2 percent. The U.S. is far behind in sales: 6671 vehicles – up 15.1 percent. Germany comes with an increase of 32.6 percent, 3873 cars.

Worldwide, Porsche sold 30,231 vehicles in the first quarter – an increase of 29.0 percent. Revenue increased by 32.4 percent to 3.025 billion euros. 725 new jobs have been created in the first quarter, up 4.7 percent. The Porsche Group together with its subsidiaries have 16,032 employees worldwide at the end of March.

The only blemish in the quarterly balance sheet is the noticeable decline in operating margin – the ratio between revenues and earnings before interest and taxes. A year ago, Porsche remained € 22 cents operating profit. Now there are just over 17 cents. The figure is still well above the target, to generate 15 percent return on sales.

  industry, trade