Porsche Debuts Mission S Supercar as Profits Collapse
Porsche picked a rough moment to unveil a halo car, but the Mission S might help lead the company out of the doldrums.
Operating profit margins have cratered from an 18 percent peak to just 1.1 percent in 2025. China is the deeper wound. Deliveries there have reportedly more than halved over several years, and another third has vanished so far this year. EV sales are sluggish. Parent Volkswagen has its own problems, and roughly 25 percent U.S. tariffs hit anything Porsche imports.
That's the morass that the Mission S is rolling into. The concept is a midengine super sports car positioned above the 911. CEO Michael Leiters was explicit that this is meant to stick around.
"The Mission S represents a midengined super sports car platform positioned above the 911 — not as a one-off hypercar, but as a permanent and versatile addition to our customer offering," Leiters said. He framed the concept as "a glimpse of the ideas and design features that will shape Porsche in the coming years."
Design chief Tobias Sühlmann called it "the result of a forward-looking, holistic design strategy" and "a vision model" illustrating a direction Porsche "will soon be translating into our future product portfolio."
Porsche debuted the car on the same Queens, New York dock where the midengine 550 Spyder arrived in America in 1953. Porsche credits the 550 Spyder, its first super sports car, with defining the company's identity and establishing its U.S. foothold. The wheels, according to Porsche, are based on the 928 — more grand tourer than purist sports car. Make of that what you will.
The interior blends analog switches and buttons with digital displays, with Porsche emphasizing "simplicity, clarity and intuitive operation" over additional screens and functions. Porsche says it takes design cues from the 550 Spyder and the 356.
What Porsche did not provide is a powertrain. There was no word on what drives the Mission S, leaving the central question of a car meant to sit atop the lineup unanswered. For a concept pitched as the brand's future, that is a notable blank.
[Images: Porsche]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
More by TTAC News Staff
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- YaMoBeThere This is an egregiously bad AI generated article, the middle of the article is repeated twice... but yea go ahead and nitpick about my comment pointing that out
- Slavuta Is this Ok if I use OEM all weather floor mats? Yes, the ones that came with 2011 Mazda3 were not good. But the ones in 2017 Mazda6 are excellent. BTW, in that picture, Grand Cherokee on Kumho tires. Is this also an advert or just coincidence?
- Bar170111344 "GM was on track to spend $31.7 billion on compliance technology through 2031."I'll just mention, that expenditure would have gone into research and development, and that would have driven U.S. manufacturing innovation. On the industrial side, R&D is necessary for U.S. manufacturers to remain competitive in the world. It's absolutely no surprise China is running rings around us. The prospective $ savings GM is looking forward to hasn't impressed the stock market. Year-to-date return of -5.65%. -7.05% in the last month. PE 20:1, inflated by the falling share price. Not to be insulting by any stretch, but it has never been like Mary Barra to get out ahead of anything. She's not an innovator and not a risk taker. She's a good engineer.Honestly - in that industry, which I worked in for decades, being regulated is like having a security blanket. You can be mediocre, blame it on regulation, and still make a buck. And with the federal government now digging an even deeper moat around GM and Ford, it's clearly suppressing American innovation and excellence.
- Jks168824641 Mercedes, 2023 GLC 300’s start/stop feature is so smooth and seamless that I hardly notice it. I really appreciate it in slow traffic or drive through lanes for fast food
- SCE to AUX While the spirit of this basic car is what people say they want, they buy $70k trucks instead because that's the only thing on dealer lots. /s
Comments
Join the conversation
I was at my local Porsche dealer last week. New Macans equipped like my 2023 4 pot sticker for $82K. Crazy.
Scammer are developing everyday people are getting scam daily and people are suffering through scam and me too I'm also one of the victims back then I was devastated and i suffered and I was scared of internet but Trustwave.Cyberdefense@gmail com a company controlled by a skilled cyber team took my case investigated and helped me recover my funds and inform FBI to arrest the scammers so if you're also a victim Reach to them for help.
Kinda nice the dash doesn't feature a giant screen.