Despite scaling back its global electric vehicle targets, Porsche Australia isn't concerned about Australia's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard.
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In an exclusive interview with Drive, Porsche Australia's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Daniel Schmollinger, said the brand is not concerned about the new emissions laws, which penalise car makers for exceeding specific CO2 limits.
“We are comfortable [with the NVES targets] at the moment. We have revised our strategy from a global perspective, but here in Australia, we are doing very well, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to us,” Schmollinger told Drive.
Despite aiming for fully electric models to account for 80 per cent of its global sales by 2030, the German luxury marque has backtracked on the decision and instead shifted its targets to include traditional ICE, hybrid and electric powertrains.
According to Schmollinger, the flexibility of powertrain options is a crucial pillar for the brand as it looks to accommodate customer demand.
“We want to have this freedom of choice for the customer, depending on where they stand in terms of being ready for electric or still loving petrol, whatever you feel is fine for us, and we want to offer a product that's perfectly curated for what you personally prefer,” Schmollinger told Drive.
While the brand previously alluded to declining consumer interest as the reason for the decision to wind back its global targets, Schmollinger said this sentiment isn’t reflected in Australia, where the Macan – the brand’s all-electric SUV – is spearheading the brand’s local sales.
For reference, between January and October 2025, Porsche has sold 2,057 Macans, nearly doubling the brand’s second-best-selling model, the Cayenne coupe and wagon (combined 849 sales).
Further helping the brand's NVES positioning is its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain options, which are available in the Cayenne and Panamera.
According to Schmollinger, the brand has always deemed hybrids important, but Australia’s growing PHEV market has given Porsche the opportunity to bridge the gap from petrol to fully electric among its customers.
“Hybrids have always been relevant for us, not only from a performance point of view, but also from a [customer’s] journey point of view to getting into electric. We see in Australia that plug-in hybrids are booming, and the growth year on year is spectacular,” he told Drive.
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Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
