Porsche And Apple Explore Joint Project, Are They Building An Electric Car?

Porsche and Apple have traditionally worked closely together. (photo; pixabay)

JAKARTA – A manager at a sports car factory, Porsche, late last year traveled to the United States. This trip is to discuss possible joint projects with iPhone maker Apple Inc., as well as with several other technology companies.

"We already have Apple CarPlay, we're going to expand it," Porsche Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume said during a videoconference about the automaker's annual output on Friday, March 18, quoted by Reuters.

He said Porsche and Apple have traditionally worked closely together. They also state "on the same wavelength" to get things started. But Blume also added that it was too early to make a decision about future projects.

Blume also said that Porsche is considering whether to enter Formula One racing competition again in the next few years. But said no definite decision had been made on that yet.

German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had reported that in January the Volkswagen Supervisory Board would decide at the end of February whether luxury brands Audi and Porsche would join F1.

Electric Car Focus

Luxury sports car maker Porsche AG, which is Volkswagen's parent company, could be listed on a partial stock market later this year. On Friday they set a more ambitious sales target for electric vehicles.

“More than 80% of newly sold Porsche vehicles will be fully electric by 2030,” said Blume, at their annual press conference.

That target previously applied to Porsche's overall electrified model, which also includes plug-in hybrid cars.

"Porsche AG is also stuck on its long-term target of a minimum operating margin of 15%," said chief financial officer Lutz Meschke.

Volkswagen and its main shareholder Porsche SE have reached a framework agreement for a potential partial listing of Porsche AG, which could value the division up to 90 billion euros.

The listing will include listing up to 25% of Porsche AG's preferred stock, selling 25% plus 1 common share in the automaker to Porsche SE, and paying 49% of the IPO proceeds to Volkswagen shareholders as a special dividend.