Porsche is preparing one of the most dramatic changes in its modern history, with the German automaker planning to cut annual production to around 200,000 vehicles while developing an ultra-exclusive supercar that could cost approximately $574,000. Internally known as the S1, the new halo car is expected to sit above the 911 and could mark Porsche’s return to the segment once occupied by the 918 Spyder. What makes the project particularly intriguing is the decision to power it with a flat-eight engine, a configuration Porsche has never used in a production road car.
The production cut is part of a broader strategy under CEO Michael Leiters, who is steering Porsche toward lower volumes and greater exclusivity as the company reassesses its previous growth and electrification plans. According to Carscoops, Porsche had previously targeted annual production of roughly 350,000 to 400,000 vehicles. A reduction to around 200,000 units would represent a substantial change in the automaker’s strategy. The report also claims Porsche has already committed to around 9,000 job cuts, while a further 4,100 positions have been reported as potentially at risk by 2035, although the additional reductions have not been firmly confirmed by the company.
A new flagship with a very unusual engine
At the center of this strategy could be the S1, a standalone supercar positioned above every current Porsche road car. Rumors suggest the flagship model will be priced close to €500,000 (about $574,000), which is not only substantially lower than the 918 Spyder’s original asking price of around $850,000 but will also undercut some of the world’s most exclusive supercars. The supercar is being developed around a flat-eight boxer engine, an arrangement that would give Porsche a distinctive new flagship while reviving an engine architecture with deep roots in the company’s racing history.
Porsche has actually experimented with a flat-eight road-car engine before, making the S1 concept considerably more credible than a purely speculative engineering exercise. The company previously developed a 5.0-liter twin-turbocharged flat-eight and installed it in a Cayman-based prototype that produced 750 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque, with a 9,000-rpm redline, rear-wheel drive and a manual transmission. That experimental car was tested around Weissach for more than a year before Porsche decided that the time was not right to put such an engine into production. There is no confirmation that the S1 will use this same engine, however, so its eventual specifications remain unknown.
Interestingly, RUF is independently developing its own flat-eight, with a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged engine producing more than 1,000 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. There is no known connection between RUF’s engine and Porsche’s S1 project, but the parallel highlights the renewed interest in Porsche-derived flat-eight performance.
Porsche is turning toward exclusivity
The S1 would also represent Porsche’s return to the standalone supercar segment more than a decade after production of the 918 Spyder ended in 2015. The company later explored another extreme road car through the 919 Street concept, which was inspired by its Le Mans-winning racing technology but never progressed beyond a full-size clay model. Porsche also unveiled the electric Mission X concept in 2023, although current reports suggest that the company’s next flagship could follow a very different path from that battery-electric vision.
The timing of the S1 is particularly significant because Porsche appears to be reconsidering how it wants to grow. Rather than chasing ever-higher production numbers, the company is looking toward fewer cars, greater exclusivity and higher-value products, with the S1 potentially serving as the ultimate expression of that philosophy. Porsche could preview the project during its Capital Markets Day on October 7, alongside details of its wider strategy through 2035. If the reports prove accurate, the S1 could become much more than another halo car, representing Porsche’s attempt to redefine its future around scarcity, performance and an engine configuration that would be unlike anything in its current road-car lineup.
