STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - Porsche sold slightly more sports and off-road vehicles last year. Worldwide, 320,221 vehicles were delivered in the past twelve months. This was 3.3 percent more than in 2022, as the car manufacturer announced in Stuttgart on Friday. As a result, sales grew in almost all regions of the world - although they slumped in China, the most important car market. A total of 79,283 cars were delivered there. This corresponds to a drop of around 15 percent. The decline was mainly due to the challenging economic situation in the region, Porsche said.

In Germany, the number of vehicles delivered in 2023 grew by a good tenth. In the rest of Europe, the company, which is majority-owned by the Volkswagen Group, sold around 12 percent more cars, according to the figures. In North America, sales increased by 9 percent, and in overseas and growth markets - including Africa, Latin America, Australia, Japan and Korea - by 23 percent.

The classic 911 sports car was particularly popular in 2023, with Porsche selling around 24 percent more of this model. The all-electric Taycan, sales of which had recently weakened, also sold better: the number of vehicles delivered rose by 17 per cent to 40,629. Sales of the Macan compact SUV, on the other hand, came to a standstill. Around 8 percent fewer of the Cayenne, the model with the highest number of deliveries, were sold last year.

Head of Sales Detlev von Platen expects 2024 to be a challenging year - particularly in view of the market conditions in China. "We are making ourselves fit for the future and updating four out of six model series," he said. That is more product launches than ever before in one year. This makes it all the more important to balance the sales structure and further strengthen the Southeast Asian markets./jwe/DP/men