All-new Taycan hoped to help accelerate Porsche sales back to target

German premium car maker Porsche is cautiously optimistic about its performance in China, expecting its 2020 sales to rebound to 2019 levels despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Its China sales in February fell 60 percent year-on-year due to the novel coronavirus, but the market started to recover in March and has now got back to normal.

In 2019, the carmaker delivered 86,752 vehicles in China, up 8 percent from 2018.

The country has been Porsche's largest market for five years in a row.

It sold 280,800 vehicles worldwide in 2019, a 10 percent rise year-on-year.

Porsche's plants in Germany resumed production in May, more than six weeks after the manufacturer halted production in late March.

Jens Puttfarcken, president and CEO of Porsche China, said production staff are working overtime to make up for the delivery lag and keep to the original production plan.

Puttfarcken made the remarks when Porsche launched the all-new Taycan sedan online last week.

The latest Taycan is the fourth member of the model series, after the Taycan Turbo S, Taycan Turbo and Taycan 4S. Puttfarcken said Porsche began deliveries of the Taycan Turbo S and Taycan Turbo in China in late April, and 80 percent of orders have been completed. The Taycan 4S is to be delivered soon.

Half of the Taycan's orders are from Porsche's established customers with the remaining half new to the brand. Porsche's pure electric sports cars meet the demands of different customers and help to expand their client groups, Puttfarcken said.

He said the all-new Taycan is an entry-level model and is expected to become the most popular version in its family, with deliveries to Chinese dealers expected to start in December.

Porsche will provide two variants of the all-new Taycan at 888,000 yuan ($125,740) for the basic version with a 79.2 kWh battery and 948,500 yuan with the larger battery pack of 93.4 kWh. The car accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 5.4 seconds.

The carmaker is also making efforts to ensure quality charging and after-sales services.

"Based on the lifestyles and travel habits of Porsche owners, the carmaker has set up a comprehensive and convenient charging network in China and provides charging options at home and in public places," Puttfarcken said.

Porsche plans to set up more than 400 public premium changing piles in more than 60 cities by the end of 2021, which can charge batteries from 5-80 percent in 30 minutes.

The carmaker will install 50-150 charging piles at high-end hotel groups by the end of 2020, which will offer free charging service to Taycan owners.

Porsche is working with third-party operators to offer more than 200,000 charging piles in more than 200 cities nationwide to ease customers' charging anxiety.

The company expects half of its portfolio will be fully electric and plug-in hybrids by 2025.

The new generation of the Macan SUV will also be electrically powered and become Porsche's second fully electric model series.