Porsche reports record 2022 earnings, updated EV pipeline includes entirely new SUV model
During its annual press conference earlier today, Porsche AG is reporting four new financial records for 2022 following a successful IPO last fall. With record revenues for the previous year, Porsche now looks ahead toward its goal of delivering 80% electrification throughout its entire vehicle lineup by 2030 and has updated the public on what and when we will see new EV models, including a bespoke SUV prototype.
Porsche AG is coming off a big year in 2022. After Porsche chief Oliver Blume took over as CEO of parent company Volkswagen Group last summer, he immediately got to work in boosting the Group’s transition to EVs.
The German automaker saw its 100,000th Taycan EV roll off its assembly lines last fall, while Porsche simultaneously began teasing additional EVs to come, including the all-electric Macan SUV. Over the past year, we’ve also learned of an EV version of the 718 on the way, which has been spotted out of roads testing.
To build hype head of its planned IPO, Blume and the Porsche team had also begun promising an entirely new SUV codenamed “K1” which will be positioned above both the Macan and Cayenne EVs in the sales pipeline.
After completing the largest IPO in Europe by market capitalization last September, Porsche is now reporting encouraging financial figures on its way toward full electrification. Here’s the latest.
Porsche aims for huge sales return on wings of new EVs
During its annual press conference earlier today, Porsche’s chairman of the executive board Oliver Blume relayed 13.6% revenue growth in 2022 (37.6 billion euros compared to 33.1 billion in 2021). Operating profit was also up 1.5 billion euros compared to a year prior (+27.4%) alongside record highs in vehicle deliveries and net-cash flow (+0.2 billion euros). Blume elaborated:
In difficult conditions, we achieved the strongest result in the history of Porsche, by some distance. We were also able to offer our customers exciting new products yet again in 2022. This is the result of a great team performance.
Fresh off its successful public offering, Porsche AG looks to carry momentum into 2023 with lofty new targets. The new year kicked off the group’s new “Road to 20” program, which aims to achieve an operating return of sales over 20% in the long term. Porsche deputy chairman and member of the executive board for finance and IT Lutz Meschke, spoke to the group’s goals and newfound freedom to achieve them:
With the Road to 20 we are making Porsche even more resilient and our brand stronger than ever. And we’re going to take a fresh look at everything, from our product range and pricing to our cost structure. We want to increase the quality of our contribution margins and make our products even more attractive.
We can now become even more focused and pick up even more speed. The newly attained autonomy gives us additional entrepreneurial freedom. We will strengthen specific capabilities in key areas such as software and battery technology.
According to consulting firm Brand Finance, Porsche sits as the most valuable luxury brand in the world right now, and it looks to transition that reputation over into a complete lineup of new EVs to join the Taycan. According to the Group’s latest production timeline, that will begin with the all-electric Macan in 2024, followed by the aforementioned 718 by mid-decade.
Next will come a fourth generation, EV version of Porsche’s larger Cayenne SUV, followed by the entirely new “K1” SUV, positioned at a price point above all its other large EVs. Porsche shared that the new model will offer strong performance and automated driving functions while atop the Group’s SSP sport EV platform. With the new chassis, Porsche is also promising on-road performance and range combined with off-road capabilities in some models.
Looking ahead, Porsche is still working to reach a net carbon neutral value chain for its vehicles by 2030, including a net carbon neutral use phase for the BEV models mentioned above. The group also began researching and developing e-fuels at a pilot plant with partners in Chile last year – a hot topic of debate in the EU as its commission has delayed a final vote to completely ban new sales of combustion vehicles by 2035. Porsche was one of the German automakers requesting guidance on the use of those fuels in the future before the vote is finalized.
Meschke states that Porsche expects an operating return on sales between 17-19% in 2023 based on projected sales revenue around 40-42 billion euros.
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The all-electric luxury electric SUV is getting significantly cheaper. Lexus launched a new entry-level 2025 RZ trim with starting prices over $10,000 less than last year’s model. And you get just as much driving range.
2025 Lexus RZ electric SUV prices and driving range
Lexus launched its first dedicated EV last year, the RZ electric SUV. Starting at $55,175, the 2024 Lexus RZ 300e has a range of up to 266 miles.
The 2024 RZ 450e AWD, equipped with its dual-moto DIRECT4 system, has a range of up to 196 miles. Prices start at just under $60,000. Both models are offered in Premium or Luxury packages.
Lexus is drastically lowering prices for the 2025 model year. The 2025 Lexus RZ starts at $43,975, and that includes the $1,175 delivery fee.
At under $44,000, prices for the 2025 RZ start at over $10,000 less than last year’s model. The lower price tag comes as Lexus added a new entry-level RZ 300e FWD trim to the lineup.
The 2025 Lexus RZ 300e FWD still has an EPA-estimated 266-mile range (18″ wheels), so despite the lower price, it’s no loss from last year’s model. It’s powered by a 72.8 kWh battery pack from global leader CATL.
Lexus modified the subframe for the FWD model, replacing the rear eAxle from the AWD model. The result is a quieter, smoother drive.
Powered by a 71.4 kWh battery, the 2025 RZ 450e AWD has an EPA-estimated driving range of up to 220 miles (18″ wheels).
| 2025 Lexus RZ model | Starting Price* | EPA-estimated Driving Range |
| RZ 450e AWD | $48,675 | 220 miles |
| RZ 450e Premium AWD w/ 18″ Wheel | $52,875 | 220 miles |
| RZ 450e Premium AWD w/ 20″ Wheel | $54,115 | 196 miles |
| RZ 450e Luxury AWD | $58,605 | 220 miles |
| RZ 300e FWD | $43,975 | 266 miles |
| RZ 300e Premium FWD w/ 18″ Wheel | $48,175 | 266 miles |
| RZ 300e Premium FWD w/ 20″ Wheel | $49,415 | 224 miles |
| RZ 300e Luxury FWD | $53,905 | 266 miles |
The 2025 Lexus RZ is available in three grades. These include the new entry-level model, in addition to the current Premium and Luxury trims.
Inside, the electric SUV has a minimalistic feel with a standard 14″ infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support at the center.
You can also opt for the available 10″ head-up display (HUD), Mark Levinson Surround Sound System, and a host of safety features.
The flat platform provides a spacious interior with 37.52″ of rear legroom, nearly as much as the second row of a Ford Explorer (39″).
With the 2025 model arriving at dealerships soon, Lexus is offering closeout prices on 2024 models with up to $18,500 in lease cash discounts. You can use our link to find the best offers on the Lexus RZ at a dealer near you today.
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Environment
‘Political malpractice’ if Trump undoes climate-geared Biden projects, outgoing U.S. energy secretary says
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm speaks to the media on day five at the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference on November 15, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A potential decision by Donald Trump to walk back the Biden administration’s climate-geared projects would impact jobs in areas governed by the President-elect’s own party, outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNBC, urging consistency in Washington’s green transition policies.
Referencing the White House’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement — a 2015 treaty in which nearly 200 governments made non-binding pledges to reduce greenhouse emissions — during Trump’s first mandate, Granholm said the U.S. pressed ahead with projects linked to the green transition that members of Congress wanted to undertake in their districts.
“We are now building all of these projects. We’re building batteries for electric vehicles, we’re building the vehicles, we’re building the offshore wind turbines, we’re building the solar panels. And all of those are factories. And those factories are in districts of members of Congress,” she told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Friday at the COP29 U.N. climate conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
She estimated that 80% of the funding from U.S. President Joe Biden’s legacy bills — the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — went to U.S. districts represented by Republican leadership.
“It would be political malpractice to undo those opportunities when people are just now getting hired,” she said, stressing benefits to the manufacturing sector and noting that the business community of the world’s largest economy and oil producer now wants a clear course from Washington on its climate policy.
“This isn’t about in [the Paris Agreement], out, shifting back and forth. Let’s have a consistent practice,” she said.
When asked for a response on Granholm’s comments, Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said the president-elect will “deliver” on the promises he made on the campaign trail.
International focus has now shifted on the shape of the U.S.’ future role in global climate policy, as Trump prepares to take the helm at the White House for a second mandate in January, following a sweeping victory against Democrat candidate Kamala Harris. Trump — who has yet to announce his own pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy — put hydrocarbons at the front and center of his campaigning agenda, pledging to “end Biden’s delays in federal drilling permits and leases that are needed to unleash American oil and natural gas production.”
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in March said that the country already “produced more crude oil than any nation at any time” for the past six years to 2023, averaging a crude oil and condensate production of 12.9 million barrels per day that year — breaking the previous U.S. and global record of 12.3 million barrels per day recorded in 2019, during Trump’s first mandate.
Yet Granholm on Friday stressed that the clean transition is also “unleashed” and will take place regardless of who is leading the White House — and that ignoring climate change risks sacrificing Washington’s position as a frontrunner in the blooming decarbonization industry.
“Why would we take a second, a backseat to an economic competitor like China?” she asked. “They have an economic strategy, they want to be number one. So if we get out of the game, we’re just going to cede that territory all over again. It’s bad strategy for the United States and for workers and for communities across the country.”
As the world braces for the possibility of a second U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement, some climate activists note that the green transition has now gained a different global momentum than during Trump’s first turn at the White House:
“There is no denying that another Trump presidency will stall national efforts to tackle the climate crisis and protect the environment, but most U.S. state, local, and private sector leaders are committed to charging ahead,” Dan Lashof, U.S. director of the World Resources Institute, said in a Nov. 6 statement.
“Donald Trump heading back to the White House won’t be a death knell to the clean energy transition that has rapidly picked up pace these last four years.”
Granholm also identified potential support in Trump’s current entourage, which this week welcomed business tycoon Elon Musk as the president-elect’s choice to head a new Department of Government Efficiency, alongside conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy:
“His right-hand man, Elon Musk, is somebody who has been strongly in favor of products that … address climate change. Obviously, he’s the founder of Tesla,” Granholm pointed out.
Musk’s environmental stance has come under question over the years, shifting from telling Rolling Stone magazine that “climate change is the biggest threat that humanity faces this century, except for AI” and backing carbon taxes to holding that the world needs hydrocarbon supplies as a bridge to renewable energy.
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