Porsche Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking loves to relax on weekends by rumbling around the farmed fields near his home in a tractor. But when it comes to running the worlds most profitable automaker, Wiedeking never takes his foot off the gas.
With sales growth fueled by one hit model after the next, Porsches revenues are set to double in the next five years, from $10 billion this year to $21.3 billion in 2012, according to Morgan Stanley (MS), while car sales zoom over the same period from 99,000 to nearly 200,000. And while many automakers struggle with squeezed profit margins, Porsche's earning power is the industry envy: For the fiscal year ended July 31, analysts forecast net profit of $2 billion, up 33%, and an operating margin of 19.8%.
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