Porsche sales hit - production stops - VW stake increase postponed

The financial crisis is hitting the bottom line at virtually all car companies, in order to make ends meet many are starting to take measures to reduce costs in the short term. Even Porsche is predicting that their revenue in the four months through November will fall 15 percent from a year ago, forcing them to re-evaluate their current strategy.

By company estimates this will result in a nearly €300 million year-to-year drop in revenue in just four months thanks to an estimated 5,500 fewer Porches being sold. The sales slump has also spread to Porsche's biggest market, the United States.

In order to deal with the lack of demand Porsche will cut production through the end of January. It also appears that Porsche's planned takeover of Volkswagen will be delayed, as Porsche doesn't appear ready to pass the 50 percent ownership mark of VW. The company's CEO Wendelin Wiedeking said of the Volkswagen takeover "In view of the current economic environment, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that we will reach this target in this calendar year."