Porsche’s electric flagship could be pensioned off by 2030, according to German business title WirtschaftsWoche, which says the carmaker’s management and its works council have reached an agreement in principle to phase the Taycan out before the end of the decade. Stuttgart has confirmed nothing.

The same report claims a proposal to move Taycan assembly from Stuttgart to Leipzig has been dropped. For UK buyers that leaves a question mark hanging over the car that has effectively defined the fast electric saloon class since 2019, holding the line against the Audi RS e-tron GT, the Lotus Emeya and the BMW i5 M60.

A Porsche spokesperson declined to comment on the report, instead pointing back to remarks made by chief executive Michael Leiters in July, when he said there were “no plans to discontinue the Taycan in the short term”.

That is not quite the same thing as a reprieve.

The Taycan has been a showroom fixture since its launch, and as Porsche’s first series-production EV it carried the job of proving that batteries could deliver the performance and feel Porsche customers expect. Most reviewers, including ours, concluded that it did.

The numbers behind the doubt

WirtschaftsWoche cites delivery figures that explain the nervousness. Worldwide sales climbed to 40,629 cars in 2023, then halved to 20,836 in 2024, before falling a further 22% to 16,339 last year.

The slide has carried on into 2026. Porsche handed over 3,420 Taycans in the first quarter, 19% fewer than in the same period of 2025.

That is a striking trajectory for a car that has arguably never been better. The latest update brought a 105kWh battery and a claimed 421 miles of range, while heavy depreciation has made the used Taycan one of the more tempting second-hand buys in Britain.

The uncertainty lands as Porsche wrestles with weaker global demand and an electric transition that has arrived far more slowly than its own forecasts assumed. The company has been accelerating a strategic realignment covering its product portfolio, cost base and management structure.

The 2025 accounts made the scale of that reset plain. Group operating profit fell sharply as Porsche absorbed close to €3.9 billion (£3.4bn) of exceptional costs tied to restructuring and the product strategy rethink, a programme that will also see around 9,000 jobs cut by 2035. Leiters used the annual press conference to promise a leaner, faster business.

Porsche has already walked back its earlier ambition for electric cars to make up more than 80% of global sales by 2030. The future model mix will instead follow customer demand and the speed at which individual markets take to EVs, which means combustion and plug-in hybrid powertrains stick around for longer.

The electric range is not being abandoned, though. The Macan Electric is established, and the new Cayenne Electric, with up to 1,140bhp (850kW), is now rolling out globally.

The wider picture is bleak enough to explain the caution. Total Porsche deliveries fell 16% to 122,306 vehicles in the first half of 2026, with China the worst-hit region at a 32% drop as economic pressure and increasingly capable domestic rivals bite.

UK dealers, and anyone weighing up a Taycan on a three-year PCP, will be watching for something firmer from Stuttgart.