Porsche does U-turn on electric vehicles, will focus on gas engines
by Sebastien Ash and Kana Inagaki, Financial Times from Ars Technica - All content on (#70Z5B)
Porsche's new boss was a skeptic of battery motors for luxury vehicles long before he was picked to lead the revival of the petrol engine at the German sports car group.
The technology isn't ready," Michael Leiters told the Financial Times late last year while still in his old job as chief executive of British supercar manufacturer McLaren. Electric vehicles lacked the emotional thrill of noisy engines and were quicker to lose their value, he said.
Leiters will take over at Porsche in January at a critical juncture for the Stuttgart-based company, as it tempers its electric ambitions and ploughs new investment into petrol engine models in an attempt to turn its fortunes around.