Porsche is moving into the fast lane on the topic of digitization. The Supervisory Board of the company has now approved the founding of Porsche Digital GmbH.
The objective of the new enterprise is to further develop Porsche into the leading provider of digital mobility solutions in the premium automotive segment. Managing director of Porsche Digital GmbH will be Thilo Koslowski. He recently joined Porsche from the US IT consulting company Gartner Inc. Koslowski is considered an expert in the automotive as well as Internet and technology sectors. The newly founded company will have its head office in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. Further sites will be in Berlin, Silicon Valley and China.
“Our business environment is changing ever more dynamically,” said Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Supervisory Board chairman of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. “Porsche Digital GmbH will strengthen the brand, develop innovative customer experiences and attract new partners. We are combining the traditional Porsche spirit with the power of new technologies.” For Porsche CEO Oliver Blume the new subsidiary “is a logical step in order for Porsche to successfully position itself for the digital future.” Blume adds that for Porsche digitization has three dimensions: Product, customer and companies.
Access to innovative and high-growth partners
“Porsche Digital GmbH is our Competence Center where visions are turned into reality,” says Blume.
There, digital customer experiences, products, business areas and business processes will be identified and further developed. The Porsche subsidiary will cooperate closely with all departments in testing and implementing new value creation models and innovative product offerings. Among the tasks of the Digital GmbH is also the identification and evaluation of trends which ensures access to relevant technologies. Porsche not only believes in its own potential for innovation, but also its partnerships. The Digital GmbH considers itself to be an interface between Porsche and innovators around the world.
This applies in particular to the areas of connectivity, smart mobility and autonomous vehicles. As part of Porsche’s digital transformation, the new subsidiary will promote long-term partnerships with suitable partners and in this way create a digital ecosystem. There are also plans for equity holdings in venture capital funds and start-ups which offer opportunities for close collaboration with innovative, high-growth companies, talents and new technologies.
“Digitization is leading to the renaissance of the automobile and is making it the central element of our digital lifestyle,” says the subsidiary’s new managing director Thilo Koslowski. “We will create digital customer experiences typical of Porsche which are fascinating and intelligent – both inside and outside the vehicle.”
Innovation offensive at Porsche
The foundation of the subsidiary is part of a major innovation offensive at Porsche. A concerted effort is being made at the company to establish innovation management across departments as well as systematically cataloguing and promoting ideas.
“Innovation does not emerge by itself. It is all about developing ideas systematically,” says Porsche CEO Blume. “Porsche has many ideas. The challenge is to think across functional divisions, use external resources and take concrete action very rapidly – especially in the digital environment,” added Blume.