Porsche To Close Three Subsidiaries, About 500 Jobs Affected

 STUTTGART, May 9 (Bernama-dpa) -- Germany's struggling sports car manufacturer Porsche plans to close three subsidiaries as part of its efforts to "focus on its core business."

The affected units are battery specialist Cellforce Group, Porsche E-Bike Performance and the software subsidiary Cetitec , Porsche announced on Friday, reported German news agency dpa. 

About 500 employees are affected. Just two weeks ago, the company also announced its intention to sell its stake in the luxury sports car manufacturer Bugatti.

According to chief executive Michael Leiters, Porsche was being forced “to make painful cuts – including at our subsidiaries.” A timeline for the closures has not yet been specified.

Porsche eBike Performance was originally founded to develop e-bike drive systems. According to the statement, operations are being discontinued due to fundamentally changed market conditions. A total of about 350 jobs are affected in Germany and Croatia.

At the software firm Cetitec, around 60 employees in Germany and 30 in Croatia are affected by the planned wind-up. 

Leiters had already signalled additional job reductions during his first public appearance in March, on top of an initial cost-cutting package.

Around 1,900 jobs are set to be cut in the Stuttgart region by 2029 in what the company describes as a socially responsible manner. In addition, contracts for roughly 2,000 temporary workers have already expired. 

Negotiations over a second round of cost-cutting measures have been ongoing for some time but have yet to produce a result.

--BERNAMA-dpa