Porsche CEO Michael Leiters says the 911 will never become a fully electric car, the only model in the lineup excluded from Porsche's EV roadmapThe declaration comes as Porsche walks back EV plans elsewhere too, returning the 718 to combustion and launching a new SUV without an electric-only optionIt also comes during a financially difficult stretch for the brand, with Q1 2026 profit down nearly 22% and deliveries falling double digits. Porsche sold more than three SUVs for every 911 that left its factories last year. And yet, when CEO Michael Leiters stood up to talk about the company's future, the message was unambiguous: the 911 will never become a fully electric car. The comments first surfaced through a Reuters report citing the German news agency dpa, after Leiters spoke at an event hosted by Auto Motor und Sport. He has since repeated and sharpened the stance at Porsche's Annual General Meeting, framing the 911's hybrid powertrain not as a stopgap but as something closer to permanent. "The hybrid drive system is not seen as a bridging technology," Leiters said. "For the 911, the specially developed performance hybrid powertrain is a fundamental building block, a sort of elixir of life for the future. Because there will be never be a fully electric 911. We stand by that." Read More The Corvette ZR1X Is Going After Pikes Peak's Toughest Record This makes the 911 the only model line in Porsche's entire portfolio explicitly excluded from a pure-electric future. The Taycan is fully electric. The Macan and Cayenne are offered in both electric and combustion form. The 718 Boxster and Cayman, set to return, will also offer both. The 911 alone stands apart. What makes the timing notable is everything happening around that statement. Porsche's broader EV ambitions have been quietly retreating across the board. The next-generation 718 lineup, originally engineered as an electric-only platform, is being re-engineered to accept combustion engines again. A new three-row SUV positioned above the Cayenne, once announced as EV-only, is now expected to launch with a gas engine first. Two electric Taycan body styles have been cancelled for North America entirely. The financial backdrop explains some of the urgency. Porsche's first-quarter 2026 revenue fell 5.2 percent year over year, operating profit dropped nearly 22 percent, and deliveries declined close to 15 percent. Leiters has described the environment the company is operating in as "very challenging." Against that backdrop, doubling down on combustion and hybrid technology for the 911 reads less like nostalgia and more like a calculated retreat to what the brand does best. And yet the numbers complicate the romance of that decision. In the US market alone, Porsche sold 47,453 combined Macan and Cayenne SUVs last year, against just 13,574 examples of the 911. Leiters insists this isn't about volume. "We become stronger when customers make a conscious decision to buy a Porsche," he said. "It's not because they really need it. It's because they really want it. And then they are willing to pay the appropriate price." It's a coherent philosophy, protect the car that defines the brand, let the SUVs fund everything else, but it's also a bet that identity can outlast a balance sheet under pressure. Read More Gordon Murray Brings the Sound of Three V12s to Goodwood This Year There remains one open question nobody has fully answered: what "never" actually means here. Leiters has now made the claim more than once, in increasingly firm language, but it remains unclear whether this is a permanent technical commitment or simply the current position on a roadmap that runs to 2035. The 911 has been defined by its flat-six engine and a distinctive exhaust note for more than six decades. For now, at least, Porsche is willing to bet the car's future on keeping that part of its identity exactly as it is.
