911 million shares, in reference to its iconic model. Porsche will go public this Thursday in Frankfurt, Germany, representing one of the largest IPOs in Europe this year. If the economic context is not necessarily favorable to an operation of such magnitude, the Porsche brand has many arguments to become a very attractive vehicle on the stock market.
Like the fate of Ferrari, presented at the beginning of January 2016. Because from its first models, such as the P1 with electric drive to the legendary 911, the manufacturer from Zuffenhausen, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, has managed to get out of the crisis, reinventing itself . in keeping with trends while maintaining a strong brand aura of engineers and innovations.
One hundred years before the Taycan, Porsche forerunner of the electric
If Porsche has become the VW group’s electric mobility laboratory (hence its IPO on Thursday), the brand did not wait for the 2000s to try its luck with electric cars. The Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen, near Stuttgart (south), presents a strange machine that looks like a stagecoach. Code name: P1. Special feature: designed and built in 1898 by Ferdinand Porsche, the vehicle had electric drive.
Two years later, the engineer presented a new “Lohner-Porsche” hybrid model, with electric propulsion through motors housed in the wheel hubs. Technically perfected, the production of electric/hybrid cars stopped in 1906 because the batteries were too heavy and expensive compared to the gasoline engine.
These models now make the link between past and present. Porsche, jealous of the performance of its gasoline cars, took a long time to return to the electric race but is reaping the first successes with its “Taycan” model launched in 2019.
A sports brand above all
This research on electrification has also served Porsche well in competition. Indeed, it is in motorsport that the brand has gained its aura and many technologies found in its range. Monte Carlo Rally, Paris-Dakar race and especially the 24 Hours of Le Mans: porsche has racked up victories in motorsport.
The German manufacturer has won nineteen times at the Sarthe circuit. His first victory dates back to 1970 with the 917, the last one dates back to 2017, with the 919 Hybrid. resistance reference, porsche it was less consistent in F1, where the team raced between 1957 and 1962, before supplying engines to McLaren in the 1980s. Tempted by a return to the league, the German firm saw talks with the Red Bull team fizzle out this summer. , but still looking for a partnership.
A company of engineers
Engineer, businessman, automotive and aeronautical pioneer, Ferdinand porsche (1875-1951) is at the origins of the saga. This native of the Austro-Hungarian Empire first put his genius for innovation at the service of the German group Daimler, for whom he designed the first Mercedes.
A member of the Nazi party, he created at Hitler’s request the first Volkswagen (“people’s car” in German) which would become the Beetle. A few decades later, his grandson Ferdinand Piëch inscribed his name in automotive history: a talented engineer in porsche then Audi, head of Volkswagen from 1993 to 2002, turned it into an international multi-brand empire, including Audi, Seat, Skoda, Lamborghini, Bugatti until finally taking control of porsche, after a family war. Father of 13 children, he died in 2019.
911, the perfect number
In 1963, Porsche caused a sensation by introducing a new model with a six-cylinder engine. The intended name, 901, must be dropped as Peugeot claims a monopoly on three-digit numbers with a zero in the middle. So bet on the combined 911, the beginning of a commercial saga that still lasts. With an almost unchanged general aesthetic, the 911 continues to represent 15% of sales.
The group devotes a cult following to the number that made its legend: every company phone number begins with 911 after the local code. For its IPO, Porsche has obviously divided its capital into 911 million shares, and the stock will be traded under the symbol P911. The firm plans to distribute a dividend for the 2022 financial year that will amount to 911 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
