May Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche founded Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH in 1931 alongside Adolf Rosenberger and Anton Piech, with main offices at Kronenstrasse 24 in Stuttgart. The company name reflects Ferdinand's honorary doctorate in engineering. The firm's early work consisted of vehicle development consulting rather than building cars under its own name. A foundational early commission came from the German government to design a mass-market car, resulting in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful automotive designs in history. In 1939 Porsche developed the 64 using many Beetle components.

During World War II, Porsche designed proposals for heavy tanks, losing contracts that ultimately produced the Tiger I and Tiger II to Henschel. However, the Porsche-designed Tiger I chassis was repurposed as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. Ferdinand Porsche was arrested for war crimes at the end of the war in December 1945, though he was not tried. During the approximately 20 months of his imprisonment, his son Ferry Porsche steered the company and began developing his own car, unable to find an existing vehicle he wanted to buy.

The first models of what became the Porsche 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. Pre-orders from German auto dealers enabled production with aluminium bodywork. After the father's company resumed control in 1950, Porsche contracted Stuttgart-based coachbuilder Reutter Karosserie to produce the 356's steel body. The 356 was road-certified in 1948 and used many components sourced from the Volkswagen Beetle, including the engine case, transmission, and suspension parts, though most of these were progressively replaced by Porsche-made components through the 356's A, B, and C production stages. Erwin Komenda, who had designed the Beetle's body, also designed the 356's streamlined bodywork.

In 1964, following racing success with models including the 550 Spyder, Porsche launched the 911, an air-cooled, rear-engined sports car with a six-cylinder boxer engine. The 911's body design was led by Ferry Porsche's eldest son, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. The designated model code "901" was adjusted to "911" after Peugeot held trademark rights over all three-digit names with a zero in the middle. The 911 has remained in continuous production and become Porsche's most famous model, succeeding across road, race track, and rally environments.

In 1972 the company's legal form changed from a limited partnership to a public limited company, establishing an executive board with outside members and a supervisory board of family members. This transition saw Ferdinand Alexander Porsche and Ferdinand Piech depart to found their own enterprises; Ferdinand Alexander established Porsche Design, known for luxury goods including sunglasses and watches, while Piech pursued an engineering career at Audi and eventually led Volkswagen Group.

Porsche holds a record 19 outright victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and is described as the world's largest race car manufacturer. In 2006 Porsche built 195 race cars for international motorsport events. In 2007 it produced at minimum 275 dedicated race cars, including seven RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes, 37 GT2-specification 911 GT3-RSRs, and 231 911 GT3 Cup vehicles.

The close relationship between Porsche and Volkswagen traces to Ferdinand Porsche's design of the original Beetle. In 1969 the two companies collaborated on the VW-Porsche 914 and 914-6, and further work in 1976 produced the Porsche 912E and 924. The Cayenne, launched in 2002, shares its chassis with the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7. In August 2009 Porsche SE and Volkswagen AG reached an agreement to merge car manufacturing operations, with VW AG ultimately acquiring full ownership of Porsche AG. As of 2015, Porsche SE held a 52.2 percent control interest in Volkswagen AG, which in turn controls Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Ducati, Scania, and MAN among other brands.

Porsche AG conducted its initial public offering in September 2022, with 25 percent of preference shares (12.5 percent of total share capital) sold at 82.5 euros per share, valuing the company at approximately 75 billion euros.

After years of strong profitability, Porsche's operating profit in 2025 collapsed by approximately 98 percent, from roughly 5.3 billion euros in 2024 to 90 million euros, an operating margin of only 0.3 percent. The decline was attributed to a 3.9 billion euro restructuring charge related to the reversal of electric vehicle investments, continued sales drops in China of roughly 26 percent, and US tariff increases. Global sales fell from 310,718 in 2024 to 279,449 in 2025. New CEO Michael Leiters, who took the role on 1 January 2026, has stated a focus on a leaner model lineup and reduced reliance on volume. On 11 May 2017, Porsche built its one-millionth 911, an Irish green Carrera S, before it became a permanent exhibit at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.