Shanghai, China, — Porsche, the German automobile manufacturer specializing in sports cars, has announced the appointment of Michael Kirsch, current CEO of Porsche Japan, as the new president and CEO of Porsche China, Hongkong and Macao effective on June 1, 2022.
Kirsch holds extensive leadership experience in the automotive manufacturing industry. He has held the position of CEO of Porsche Japan since 2019. Prior to that, he previously held the same position at Porsche Korea for three years. Between 2012 and 2016, he gained a detailed insight into Porsche China in his role as chief operating officer. His other notable employments were holding senior management positions at BMW and at an international hotel chain.
Detlev von Platen, member of the executive board responsible for sales and marketing at Porsche AG, commented, “In his various roles, Michael Kirsch has contributed to successfully develop Porsche in Asia and he is the ideal choice as CEO of Porsche China – one of our most important markets worldwide. Michael has been very successful, especially when dealing with customer satisfaction and service quality. I am confident that he will set further strong impulses with plenty of valuable initiatives for the Chinese market and will continue to increase the impact of our brand there.”
Kirsch takes over following the departure of Jens Puttfarcken, who is moving to Audi AG to take on the role of head of sales for Europe. Puttfarcken held the president and CEO positions for Porsche China, Hongkong and Macao since 2018.
“Jens Puttfarcken has excellently positioned our brand in China and successfully expanded both the customer base and the dealer network. He has been leading a dedicated and strong team in China which keeps Porsche always connected and engaged in this dynamic market. We thank him for his great commitment and wish him all the best for his new responsibilities,” Platen said.
During the tenure of Puttfarcken, China continued to be Porsche’s largest single market since 2015. The market is strategically important to the brand with its size, great dynamics and innovation strength. Under the previous leadership of Puttfarcken, Porsche continuously expanded its business footprint and invested in terms of electrification, innovation and digitalization. In addition, Porsche Digital China was founded in 2019 and spun off at the beginning of 2021. Moreover, the foundation stone was laid for the establishment of a research and development satellite location in Shanghai, which is due to open in 2022.