Porsche CEO says Volkswagen ties ‘should play a role’ amid U.S. tariff

Porsche‘s CEO Oliver Blume on Wednesday said the company could lean into its partnership with Volkswagen — which has its own U.S. manufacturing base — as it braces for potential tariffs imposed by the White House.

“We have an industrial cooperation agreement together with Volkswagen, and in the end, we are working so close together, so this should play a role” in responding to tariffs, Blume told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach.

The U.S. is Porsche’s top market, but the company’s lack of assembly operations in the country have left it potentially vulnerable to a U.S. trade war with the European Union. Porsche’s main plants are based in Germany.

While listed separately, the 911-maker is part of the Volkswagen Group, along with brands including Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Skoda, Seat, and Volkswagen itself. Blume is chief executive of both Volkswagen Group and Porsche.

“My hope is there will be an agreement between Europe and the U.S. … I’m counting on a fair solution between the regions,” Blume told CNBC.

“On the other side, we are investing heavily in the U.S. in terms of partnerships, services, our own organization, our dealer network. We are employing many, many people in the U.S. Besides this, being connected to the Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen Group is investing over 15 billion euro in the U.S.,” he continued, pointing out the conglomerate’s assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and investment in South Carolina.

“This should play a role when it comes to a fair agreement there,” he added.

Volkswagen is also expected to be hammered hard by U.S. duties on its North American neighbors via its assembly plants in Mexico, though it is currently benefitting from a delay to tariffs on its Volkswagen-branded vehicles under a temporary deal. This exempts vehicles from U.S. tariffs as long as at least 75% of their parts originate from North America.

Whether Trump will follow through on his threat of blanket 25% tariffs on EU imports remains to be seen. Tensions nevertheless ratcheted up Wednesday as the bloc announced upcoming tariffs on billions of dollars worth of U.S. goods, in response to U.S. duties on steel and aluminum.

The auto industry was also rattled on Tuesday by Trump’s warning that he would “substantially increase” tariffs on cars coming from Canada into the U.S. unless “egregious, long time Tariffs” were dropped by the nation.