Porsche will increase its stake in Manthey as the German manufacturer expands its individualisation and performance activities under its ‘Sportwagenschmiede ’35’ strategy, with the long-standing partners planning closer collaboration across special models, performance kits and exclusive racetrack experiences.
The move forms part of Porsche’s new ‘Home of Sports Cars’ structure, which will bring together its activities across three areas: Performance, including Manthey; Exclusiveness, comprising Sonderwunsch and Exclusive Manufaktur; and Heritage. Porsche intends to further scale up its established individualisation offering through the structure while strengthening the relationship between its road-car and motorsport programmes.
CEO Dr Michael Leiters described Manthey as an important partner with deep connections to both Porsche and the wider racing community. “Manthey has been a trusted Porsche partner for many years, firmly rooted in the motorsport community and with a loyal customer base. We intend to build on this.”
He added: “By increasing our stake, we are moving even closer to the brand, which is based near the Nürburgring and extremely successful in customer racing, with the aim of expanding our joint offering. We’re thinking of special models in the few off-segment, performance kits and exclusive racetrack experiences.”
Manthey becomes central to Porsche performance strategy
Manthey will sit within the Performance element of Porsche’s ‘Home of Sports Cars’ structure as the manufacturer looks to extend its performance offering beyond its existing GT models. The partnership brings together Porsche’s road-car development with Manthey’s experience in motorsport, track-focused engineering and customer racing.
Manthey brings 30 years of GT experience to the expanded relationship. Its motorsport record includes seven overall victories at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, six class victories at Le Mans, multiple FIA World Endurance Championship titles and DTM championships.
Porsche sees that competition pedigree as an important part of its plans to broaden the performance portfolio available to customers. The manufacturer intends to use the increased shareholding to deepen its collaboration with Manthey and further connect racetrack development with road-car applications.
Porsche and Manthey build on long-standing relationship
The partnership between Porsche and Manthey has already extended well beyond motorsport. Since 2020, the companies have jointly developed nine Manthey Kits covering models from the 911 and 718 ranges through to the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach package.
Those products form part of a relationship that has developed significantly since Manthey founder Olaf Manthey established the company’s reputation through competition. The operation has since built a wider portfolio of performance products and experiences while maintaining its strong links with racing.
Manthey Managing Director Nicolas Raeder said the closer relationship reflects the trust developed between the organisations during more than a decade of joint projects.
“Mutual trust has been the foundation of our successful collaboration for a long time. Over the past 13 years, we have realised numerous great projects together,” Raeder said. “We see the increase in the shareholding as a personal mark of appreciation. We look forward to further deepening our collaboration and supporting Porsche’s strategy ‘Sportwagenschmiede ’35’.”
Joint Managing Director Martin Raeder believes the increased Porsche stake will also allow the organisations to make more effective use of their existing strengths.
“We are heading into the future in a stronger position with the new shareholding. It is the next step in our partnership,” he said. “By working even more closely together, Porsche and Manthey will be able to utilise existing synergies and potential in an even more targeted manner and further strengthen the bridge between motorsport and production vehicles.”
‘Home of Sports Cars’ combines three areas
Porsche will organise the expanded strategy around Performance, Exclusiveness and Heritage, with individualisation sitting at the centre of the approach. The Performance category incorporates Manthey, while Sonderwunsch and Exclusive Manufaktur form the Exclusiveness pillar.
The company intends to further expand its individualisation business as part of the strategy, using the three areas to offer customers a broader range of performance, bespoke and heritage-focused products and experiences.
Manthey’s role gives the Performance side of the strategy a direct connection with competition. Porsche intends to use the company’s knowledge from customer racing and track-focused development to strengthen products for both circuit and road use, while future joint projects will extend beyond the Manthey Kits already available.
Two special models to preview future projects
The first indication of what the expanded partnership could produce will come during the DTM season finale at Hockenheim. Manthey plans to present two special models on Friday, 9 October at 13:30 CEST as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations.
Porsche has not provided further details about the two cars in its announcement, but the presentation will serve as the first preview of future joint projects following the decision to increase its Manthey shareholding.
The timing also places the announcement alongside an important motorsport weekend for Manthey. The team heads to Hockenheim fighting for its third DTM championship in four seasons, with Thomas Preining holding a 23-point advantage in the Drivers’ Championship and Manthey leading the Teams’ standings by 20 points.
Manthey targets another DTM title at Hockenheim
The DTM finale provides an immediate reminder of the competition pedigree underpinning Porsche’s decision to deepen its Manthey relationship. With both the Drivers’ and Teams’ championships within reach, the operation has an opportunity to add another major title to its record during the same weekend in which it showcases the first projects linked to the next phase of its partnership with Porsche.
Qualifying will take place at 09:35 on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s race begins at 13:30, while the season concludes with Sunday’s final race at 16:30.
Regardless of the championship outcome, Porsche’s increased stake signals a broader long-term role for Manthey within the manufacturer’s strategy. Its activities will increasingly connect customer racing, track-focused performance products and road-car development as Porsche builds its ‘Home of Sports Cars’ concept towards 2035.
