High interest rates suppress car consumption! Following Tesla, Porsche also issues a loud warning.

Not only Tesla, but Porsche also warns that the significant interest rate hikes by central banks in Europe and the United States are gradually eroding consumer demand for cars.

On October 25th, Porsche released its financial report for the third quarter of this year. The data shows that Porsche's revenue for the first nine months of this year increased by 12.6% YoY to 30.1 billion euros, exceeding analysts' expectations. The sales of cars reached 27.785 billion euros, an increase of 13.6% YoY.

The data also shows that in the first nine months, Porsche's cumulative vehicle deliveries increased by 9.6% to 240,000 units. The delivery volume of the all-electric Taycan sports car increased by 11% to 28,000 units, surpassing the company's target of 20,000 units.

However, Porsche's CFO, Lutz Meschke, issued a warning about the future, stating that the significant increase in interest rates by the government has caused consumers to be unwilling to purchase new cars:

"With inventory decreasing, Porsche's automotive supply chain is gradually improving. However, high inflation, coupled with a series of new products to be launched in 2024, means that costs remain high. We expect 2024 to be a challenging year."

Nevertheless, Porsche maintains its guidance for the 2023 fiscal year, with global sales revenue expected to be between $42.3 billion and $44.4 billion, and a sales return rate of 17-19%.

The pessimistic outlook for the future has also caused Porsche's stock price to fall. As of the time of writing, Porsche's stock price has fallen by 2.25%, reaching a historical low of 84.40 euros. Over the past year, Porsche's stock price has fallen by 15.4%.

After Tesla released its earnings report last week, its CEO, Elon Musk, also expressed a similar view. Musk stated that if interest rates remain high, people will not have the money to buy cars. Musk believes that although Tesla introduced a significant price reduction in the third quarter, the high interest rates significantly dampen the demand stimulus from the price reduction for consumers who buy cars with a large amount of loans.

In addition, there have been changes in global demand for luxury goods. Wall Street analysts pointed out that the days of luxury brands "making money with their eyes closed" are over. LVMH, Prada, and Richemont, the parent company of Cartier, have all reported a slowdown in sales growth. Analysts generally believe that the sluggish demand in the luxury goods industry is a reality, and this may also be detrimental to Porsche's future.