Jun 27, 2023 · 3h 22m · acquired
Porsche (with Doug DeMuro) · Acquired
David Rosenthal · 1h 29m spoken Doug DeMuro · 51m spoken Ben Gilbert · 40m spoken Waseem Daher · 1m spoken
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In this episode of Acquired, hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal join automotive expert Doug DeMuro to analyze Porsche's history, spanning its origins, family conflicts, near-bankruptcies, racing heritage, and strategic evolution into one of the most profitable luxury automakers in the world.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Ben and David hold 70.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Ben and David as informed peer 7.7 Guest teaching 3.1 Guest disagreement 1.2 Ben and David pushing back 1.2
speaking balance: gold is Ben and David, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 1:27:34 Doug defends the 928 against retrospective criticism
Doug pushes back against the common dismissal of the 928, arguing that in the context of 1970s emissions regulations and market trends, replacing the 911 was a rational strategic move.
Hardest push from Ben and David ▶ 2:37:44 Doug refutes corporate messaging about an electric 911When Ben asks about Porsche's official stance against electrifying the 911, Doug dismisses the PR line and insists an all-electric version is inevitable in our lifetimes.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 1:42:31 Doug explains how contract assembly kept Porsche's factories openDoug provides deep industry insider knowledge explaining how assembling the Mercedes 500E and Audi RS2 in Zuffenhausen kept Porsche from total operational collapse during the early 1990s.
Ben and David hold their own ▶ 2:22:37 David breaks down Ferdinand Piëch's tactical power playDavid sharply analyzes how Piëch exploited Porsche's debt-fueled takeover attempt and the 2008 Lehman liquidity freeze to force Porsche AG into a rescue sale to Volkswagen.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Ben and David as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Ben and David pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debating the Pronunciation of Porsche | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | David lays out a detailed historical framing of German science and automotive innovation from Johannes Kepler to Siegfried Marcus and Carl Benz. Doug contributes casually to set the scene around Stuttgart. | |
| Stuttgart, Mass Mobility, and Starting the Consultancy | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | David details Ferdinand Porsche's early tenure at Daimler, his acrimonious exit over the small car concept, and the founding of his design consultancy. Doug provides color on early German car ownership rates. | |
| Adolf Hitler, the Beetle, and Wartime Manufacturing | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | David and Ben explain Hitler contracting Porsche for the Beetle and the founding of Wolfsburg, followed by Major Ivan Hurst saving the factory. Doug contextualizes post-war European microcars like the Mini, Fiat 500, and 2CV. | |
| Rebuilding in Gmünd and the Lightweight Sports Car Vision | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | David narrates the post-war Gmünd sawmill rebuild and Ferry Porsche's lightweight sports car vision. Ben asks Doug to define the mechanics of supercharging and turbocharging, which Doug explains clearly. | |
| The 1948 Volkswagen Royalty Deal and Dealership Empire | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | David unpacks the post-war licensing agreement granting Porsche royalties on every Beetle and Austrian dealership distribution rights. He explains how West Germany's 95% marginal tax rate incentivized internal corporate reinvestment. | |
| Motorsport Innovation, Everyday Usability, and US Expansion | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | David and Doug discuss 1950s gentleman racing, the 550 Spyder, and Ferry Porsche's philosophy of everyday usability. Doug highlights Enzo Ferrari's contrasting contempt for road car customers. | |
| Engineering the 911 and the Peugeot Naming Conflict | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | David explains the origins of the 901, the rivalry between cousins Butzi Porsche and Ferdinand Piëch, and Peugeot's center-zero naming trademark. Doug confirms Peugeot's trademark history and internal badge constraints. | |
| 911 Commercial Triumph, Boxer Engines, and the 912 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | David reviews sales numbers and the 912 stopgap model. Doug educates the hosts on the mechanical balance and configuration of flat-six boxer engines compared to inline and V layouts. | |
| The VW-Porsche 914 Project and Mid-Engine Dynamics | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | David and Ben discuss the VW-Porsche 914 partnership and US distribution concessions. Doug emphasizes mid-engine architecture as the ideal platform balance for true sports cars. | |
| 1970s Oil Crisis and the Landmark Family Summit | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | David recounts the 1970 family summit where both family branches stepped down from operational management. Doug adds context on Ferdinand Piëch's subsequent ruthless turnaround of Audi. | |
| Ernst Fuhrmann Era: The 924, 944, and the Controversial 928 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | David and Ben discuss Fuhrmann introducing the 924 and 928 to replace the 911. Doug mounts a forceful defense of the 928's contemporary context, then shares firsthand confirmation of Peter Schutz extending the 911 line on the wall. | |
| 1980s Public Listing, Financial Crisis, and Contract Assembly | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | David and Ben outline Porsche's 1980s IPO and subsequent sales collapse down to 4,100 US units. Doug schools the hosts on how contract manufacturing the Mercedes 500E and Audi RS2 literally saved Porsche's factory workers. | |
| Sponsor Break: Vanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Sponsor read for Vanta followed by brief banter on Porsche charging premium prices for historic library paint-to-sample options. | |
| Wendelin Wiedeking's Turnaround: TPS, 911 Focus, and the Boxster | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | David details Wiedeking's arrival, the implementation of TPS, streamlining to the 911, and launching the 986 Boxster. Doug notes the shared parts strategy between the 996 and Boxster. | |
| Disrupting the Luxury Segment: The Cayenne SUV Gamble | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | The hosts and Doug analyze the Cayenne gamble. Doug explains Porsche's early naive inquiries about US market requirements like gun racks and over-engineering off-road transfer cases. | |
| The Carrera GT: Engineering an Analog Halo Supercar | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | David connects the Leipzig Cayenne factory to the Carrera GT supercar. Doug provides deep technical context on the Carrera GT's F1-derived V10 engine, lack of electronic assists, and dangerous reputation. | |
| Capital Allocation and the Audacious Takeover of Volkswagen | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | David and Ben walk through Wiedeking's capital allocation dilemma, using cash and derivatives to launch a creeping takeover of Volkswagen despite the German Volkswagen Law. | |
| The 2008 Short Squeeze, Debt Trap, and Piëch's Counterstrike | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | David and Ben narrate the 2008 financial crisis, the massive VW short squeeze, Wiedeking's debt trap, and Ferdinand Piëch's tactical counterstrike where VW ended up acquiring Porsche AG. | |
| The 918 Spyder and Porsche's Supercar Strategy | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Doug details the 918 Spyder introducing hybrid tech top-down, contrasting Porsche's long-term parts support with Ferrari's abandonment of legacy plug-in models. Includes a Pilot founder clip. | |
| Macan, Taycan, and the Electric Vehicle Transition | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | Doug and hosts discuss the Macan and Taycan EV shift. Doug pushes back against PR claims that the 911 will stay ICE forever and discusses the commoditization of straight-line electric acceleration. | |
| The Porsche Re-IPO, Scale, and Luxury Margins | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Ben and David dissect the 2022 Porsche AG re-IPO, unit volumes (350k/year), and gross margin comparisons across BMW (17%), Mercedes (23%), Porsche (29%), Ferrari (48%), and LVMH (68%). | |
| Power and Playbook: Brand Heritage, Engineering, and Fan Service | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | The hosts apply the 7 Powers framework to Porsche, identifying Brand Heritage and Scale Economies (shared VW platforms) while rejecting counter-positioning and switching costs. | |
| The Acquired-Adjusted Doug Score for Porsche | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Hosts and Doug award an Acquired Doug Score across revenue growth (7/10), profitability (5/10), and defensibility (10/10), debating whether SUV expansion will dilute brand prestige. | |
| Episode Carve Outs: ResortPass, Seinfeld Interviews, and WhistlinDiesel | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Hosts and Doug share carve outs (ResortPass, Seinfeld Charlie Rose interviews, WhistlinDiesel), followed by Doug describing his YouTube channel and Cars & Bids platform. |
Statements from this episode (64)
Ferdinand Porsche Never Finished College or Earned a PhD
“The dude never even finished college, let alone got a PhD, It was an honorary degree that he got later in life.”
Ferdinand Porsche Was an SS Member and Hitler Associate
“Ferdinand himself not just was a Nazi, but was a very close personal associate of Adolf Hitler. He was a member of the SS”
In the 1930s, 2% of Germans Owned Cars Versus 30% of Americans
“Apparently only two percent of Germans owned a car versus 30% of Americans by the 19 thirties.”
Porsche and Nazis Appropriated Jewish Co-Founder Adolf Rosenberger's Stake
“You probably don't know about Adolf Rosenberger, because shortly after they start the company Rosenberger was Jewish, and he gets arrested by the Gestapo. He gets imprisoned. He eventually bribes his way out and escapes to America, but During the war, Porsche …”
Hitler Established Volkswagen to Contract Ferdinand Porsche's Beetle Design
“That car would go on to become the Volkswagen Beetle, and the company that contracted Porsche to build and design it was Volkswagen, which was established to do so by Adolf Hitler.”
The VW Beetle Is Likely the Longest-Produced Single-Generation Car
“I believe the Beetle, the original Beetle,
Was, is likely the single longest produced and largest both in terms of length of time and number of units produced of a single generation model of a car.”
British Industry Inspectors Rejected the VW Beetle as Commercially Unviable
“The British saw the plans for Volkswagen, for the Beetle, and said, no one's gonna ever want to buy that car. It's crazy to think about now, and it gives you an idea of how the British would operate their car industries, constant missed opportunities, but they…”
British Major Ivan Hurst Saved Volkswagen With a 20,000-Beetle Military Order
“So he amazingly proposes and convinces the British command To leave the factory in Wolfsburg, maybe easier than I thought because the British didn't want it, apparently, and also to place an initial order, a seed order to restart the company for 20,000 beetles…”
Ferdinand Porsche Built Early Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
“And also some of the very first hybrid and electric cars in history. But at that time, battery technology wasn't advanced enough, and so you're lugging around this huge weighted battery pack to get almost no juice out of it, and so it didn't really go into pro…”
Ferdinand Porsche and Anton Piëch Were Imprisoned Following World War II
“After the war, Ferdinand and the son-in-law, Anton Piache, are both arrested by the French as war criminals. Tried in France, they end up being imprisoned for two years in France.”
Porsche 356 Models Regularly Fetch $300,000 at Auction
“Three 50 sixes regularly sell for about 300,000 dollars at auction, and special ones go for well, well, well above a million.”
Porsche Priced the Original 356 at Roughly $42,000 in Modern Terms
“They price them at 3750 dollars, the German equivalent of 3750 dollars in the late forties. That's about 42,000 dollars today, but we're talking about war torn Europe that you're trying to sell this in.”
Volkswagen Granted Porsche Royalties on Every Beetle Sold Worldwide
“In return, they give that German Porsche company literally the sweetheart deal of a lifetime, a royalty on every beetle sold. Worldwide.”
Porsche's Dealership Business Earned More Revenue Than Its Manufacturing Arm
“So by the time in the early 2000, when it all gets consolidated back into one company for most of the two separate histories, that was the larger company by revenue. So the Austrian Porsche company becomes the largest Car dealer network in Europe, not just for…”
The German State of Lower Saxony Holds a 20% Stake in Volkswagen
“State of Lower Saxony within West Germany, which still to this day holds 20% of Volkswagen, which is crazy.”
Enzo Ferrari Hated His Customers and Sold Road Cars to Fund Racing
“Whereas Enzo very famously, he just wanted to race and he hated his customers, his road car customers deeply. It wasn't his thing. He just wanted to race. He only sold road cars to kind of finance racing.”
In 1954, the United States Accounted for 40% of Porsche's Car Sales
“In 1954, Porsche sells 588 cars in the U.S. Which was 40% of their entire production for the year.”
Porsche Renamed the 901 to 911 Due to Peugeot's Trademark
“The nine 11 Is only called the nine 11 because Peugeot of all companies had a trademark in France for any car with a model name of any number, any Roman number with a zero in the middle and then any other number.”
Porsche Numbered Its First Project 'Type 7' to Appear Established
“Going back to the very, very beginning of the consulting company, they started with type seven, or project number seven, because they didn't want to look like they were a brand new company.”
Doug DeMuro: The Cayman GT4 RS Is the Best Modern Porsche
“Yeah, I feel that way. But it's controversial because the nine 11 is the Porsche.”
True Luxury Goods Markets Stay Resilient During Economic Downturns
“Nine 11 sales stay relatively robust throughout the seventies because it's a luxury good, right? Like just like in any recession and even like sector targeted ones like the oil crisis and the auto industry for true luxury goods, like those people, like the mar…”
The Porsche and Piëch Families Jointly Exited Operations in 1970
“So in the fall of 1970, Ferry and Louise together call a joint family summit... At the end of it, they come to a very, very surprising decision. They don't decide that one Ferdinand or the other is gonna take over. Instead, they make the call that the families…”
Audi Was an Undesirable, Second-Tier Brand Before Ferdinand Piëch's Turnaround
“At that time, Audi was a joke. Audi was not what it is now. Like, now you view Audi as a legitimate competitor to Mercedes and BMW. Back then, it was more like how, Saab would have been treated like it was a absolute second or third tier brand that no one coul…”
In 1978, Porsche Launched the 928 Intending to Replace the 911
“So in 1978, Furman introduces the Porsche nine, 28 with the stated intention that this is going to eventually replace the nine, 11.”
1970s Emissions Rules Throttled 8-Liter Cadillac V8s to 150 Horsepower
“Cadillac had like eight liter V eights that made like a 150 horsepower. I mean, it was embarrassing stuff because they had to put so many Emissions controls on that by the time you actually got the power out, it was a disaster.”
Porsche Moving Past the 911 Mirrored Jaguar and Mercedes Trends
“And the Jaguar E-Type had just been replaced. That was the big competitor. It was another sports car that had been replaced by the XJS, which was now a V eight comfortable automatic transmission car. Mercedes-Benz did the same thing with the SL class. It went …”
Former CEO Peter Schutz Confirmed the Legendary 911 Wall Line Story
“When Peter Schutz retired, he moved to Naples, Florida, and the general counsel at Porsche and Peter Schutz were neighbors in their homes in Naples. And I, one day, he went over to his house and asked him, you know, is the story real? Did it happen? And appare…”
Porsche's Market Cap Dropped Below €400 Million in the Early 1990s
“At one point, Porsche's market cap was less than four hundred million euros.”
Porsche's US Sales Plunged to Just 4,100 Units in 1992
“They dipped in 91, 92 to 4100 units. That was worse than 1965 sales. They had routinely sold between 13 and 30,000 cars a year throughout the sixties, seventies, eighties. 13 and 30,000. And in the U.S. At 92, they dipped to 4100 cars.”
Porsche Contract Manufactured the Mercedes-Benz 500 E in Zuffenhausen
“Porsche built a Mercedes Benz, which was called the 500 E. It was a midsize sedan. Mercedes didn't have the capacity or didn't really want to do it.”
Porsche Offers Historic Catalog Paint Colors for Around $15,000
“You can do a thing today where you go to buy a Porsche and their online configurator, and they have the paint from every single Porsche ever produced in history. And so you're like, you know, there was really something about this particular nine 11 in this yea…”
Porsche's Brand Strategy Relies on Marketing to Children Decades Before Purchase
“It was always a weird aspect of the brand that like you actually weren't necessarily only marketing to like adults. You also had to market to like people who would cultivate this passion that you knew that would become a thing later when you weren't even in an…”
The Porsche Boxster Shared 911 Seats, Including Unusable Coat Hooks
“In fact, if you get into a Boxster, which was a two seater car, it has a coat hook on the back of the seat because the nine 11 had a coat hook on the back of it. You can't put a coat in the Boxster. The seat is right up against the, but they shared everything.”
Porsche Shifted Its Pure Sports Car Focus to Mid-Engine Models
“Now the nine 11 is kind of playing more of a luxury car, like touring car role almost, where, you know, with the special colors and the stitching and all that, and it seems like the more Porsche has focused more of its sort of true sports car efforts on those …”
Porsche's High-Margin SUVs Expanded Profitability Without Diluting Brand Equity
“And the magical, incredible, amazing thing about Porsche is they have doubled down on this strategy, It has become a huge part of their business. They generate a ton of margin on the SUVs, and it has not borrowed against their brand equity. It has increased th…”
Doug DeMuro: The Carrera GT Is the Greatest Driving Car Ever Built
“The Carrera GT, in my mind, is the greatest driving car ever built.”
A $70,000 Audi RS 3 Accelerates Faster Than a Porsche Carrera GT
“You know, a new Audi RS three, which is just an Audi high performance Audi sedan that you can buy for 65, 70,000 dollars. It's faster than this car zero to 60.”
Porsche Carrera GTs Dropped to $250,000 Before Surpassing $1 Million
“The sticker price was 440,000 dollars, and they dropped fast. You could get them in oh eight, oh seven, oh eight, you could get them for two 50 all day long. And now you can't, there's, they don't exist under a million dollars.”
The Carrera GT Replenished the Brand Equity Spent on the Cayenne SUV
“While they were drawing on the brand equity to make the SUV, this was a big part of putting cash back in the bank of the brand equity.”
Porsche's Market Cap Grew From €400 Million to €32 Billion by 2007
“Porsche goes from death's door, less than four hundred million euro market cap when he takes over to By 2007, Porsche's market cap is thirty two billion euros.”
Porsche Spent $4 Billion for 20% of Volkswagen Group in 2005
“September, 2005, Porsche spends four billion dollars to acquire 20% of the VW group on the open market.”
The Volkswagen Law Capped Any Shareholder's Voting Rights at 20%
“Under the Volkswagen law, no shareholder in Volkswagen AG could exercise more than 20% of the firm's voting rights regardless of their level of stock holding.”
Porsche Holding Company Accrued $10 Billion in Debt to Buy VW Shares
“Vita King starts loading up the holding company with debt, with cheap debt in 2007. To go buy more VW shares on the market. Ultimately, ten billion dollars of debt that he puts on this holding company.”
A 2008 Short Squeeze Briefly Made Volkswagen the World's Most Valuable Company
“So, during the week after the
The collapse in October, 2008.
That's when Volkswagen Group becomes the most valuable company in the world.
Hedge funds have been shorting Volkswagen.
You get a short squeeze that happens and the stock just goes through the roof.”
Volkswagen Acquired the Porsche Operating Company for 8.5 Billion Euros
“VW does end up buying Porsche, the operating company in two tranches over three years.
They buy 50% up front.
Three years later in 20 11 they complete the purchase.
It ends up being about eight and a half billion euros total.”
The Porsche-Piëch Family Secured Over 50% Volkswagen Voting Power Post-Merger
“32% of the VW Group.
Which, remember now, also owns Porsche.
But they have over 50% of the voting power.
So they control VW Group.”
Porsche 918 Production Exceeded McLaren P1 and LaFerrari Combined
“The nine 18, they only made 918 units. And in fact, that was considered a lot for a supercar. Its biggest rivals at the time which were the McLaren P one and the LaFerrari, they didn't combine to make 918 of those.”
The Next Generation of Supercars Will Likely Be Fully Electric
“The next crop of supercars will probably be full electric, and so that transition, I think, is going to be more controversial.”
Ferrari Refused Long-Term Battery Support for the Hybrid LaFerrari
“Ferrari has already said that the technology is old, all the plug-in stuff, we don't want to be any part of the LaFerrari.”
Fuel Economy Regulations Made Independent Supercar Automakers Impossible
“None of those companies are independent anymore. It's not really possible either because of the way that regulations are structured especially fuel economy. You have to spread out your fuel economy over your corporation.”
The Porsche Cayenne Turbo Engine Is Shared Across VW Group Brands
“The engine in the Cayenne turbo, which is the best Cayenne is in the Lamborghini Urus, an Italian car, the Bentley Bentayga, a British car, but Volkswagen owns all of these. It's in the Audi RS six and the Audi SQ seven.”
Doug DeMuro: Launching the Electric Taycan as a Sedan Was a Mistake
“It was a mistake, for sure. Yeah, I think probably because development started about when they started Mission E. And that was in 15, and sedans were still a big part of the market. But most brands now that are coming out with electric cars as their first car …”
Porsche Will Eventually Make All Models Purely Electric
“It's, the future is electric. There will be electric versions of all these cars, and probably within our not so distant lifetimes, they will be purely electric.”
Doug DeMuro Predicts a $2 Million All-Electric Porsche Supercar Soon
“I suspect, in the next couple years, they will come out with a, the next supercar, which will be, you know, look like this, and they'll only make a thousand, and it'll cost two million dollars, and it will be fully electric in two zero to 60 in one and a half …”
Porsche's 2022 Re-IPO Is Europe's Largest IPO Ever
“The Porsche re-IPO is the largest European IPO of all time.”
Oliver Blume Simultaneously Serves as CEO of VW Group and Porsche
“Oliver Bloom is both the current CEO of VW Group And Porsche.”
Porsche Generates Over $40 Billion Annually, Two-Thirds From SUVs
“They do over forty billion dollars a year in revenue right now. When you look at the breakdown of that, interestingly enough, two-thirds of it has come from SUVs, and there's a good amount of it that comes from the Taycan, too.”
Gross Margins Across Automakers: BMW 17%, Porsche 29%, Ferrari 48%
“BMW, as we mentioned, 10 times more units of BMW sold than Porsches are down at 17%. In terms of gross margin, so they really aren't marking up much above their cost of goods in order to ship those cars. Mercedes a little bit better at 23%. Porsche is at 29%, …”
LVMH Achieves 68% Gross Margins, Significantly Higher Than Automakers
“LVMH's gross margins, 68%. It turns out you can mark up leather way more than you can mark up cars.”
Ferrari Cannot Maintain Its Profit Margins at Porsche's Volume
“Ferrari couldn't make the number of cars that Porsche does and maintain those margins, so that's not really a fair, like, direct comparison in terms of who their competitor is.”
Doug DeMuro: Korean Car Brands Still Lack Emotional Customer Attachment
“The Koreans have been around for 25 years, and there's no, like, emotional attachment to any of those cars, even the older ones.”
Automotive Switching Costs Will Rise as In-Car Software Grows
“Less than, that is, that's gonna become less true, I suspect, with all the tech that's in cars, but yeah, I agree. Up until this point, it certainly hasn't been a thing.”