Porsche Can't Sell Most Of Its Cars In The U.S. Right Now Because It Buys Chips From Belarus: Report [Update: Porsche Says It Isn't Belarus]

The global economy is a complex and constantly moving entity, which frequently causes companies to reevaluate their operations. Porsche was recently pushed up against that wall when the U.S. government determined that nearly all of its cars couldn’t be imported into the country, allegedly due to a single microchip manufactured in Belarus. If you didn’t know, Belarus is the subject of major sweeping State Department sanctions at the moment, due to the authoritarianism of the Lukashenka regime, and the country’s support of Russia’s war effort against Ukraine. Allegedly all Porsches, except Macan and 718 models, are held in port right now waiting for a replacement chip.

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Updated: Wednesday, February 7, 2024, 3:32 p.m. ET: A Porsche spokesperson reached out to Jalopnik to refute the claim that this issue is in any way related to sanctions against Belarus. They were also quick to note that none of the cars affected will be re-routed to other countries. The parts will be replaced at port before then going on to the dealership for delivery. They could not go on record as to the reasoning for import delays, what the part that needs to be replaced is, or from where it is sourced.  

Anyone who currently has a new 911, Cayenne, Panamera, or Taycan on a boat is going to be waiting for at least an extra month or more while Porsche deploys and installs the necessary non-sanctioned chips. According to a source who wished to remain anonymous, many of the cars will be re-routed to other countries, and U.S. customers will need to wait for their cars to be rebuilt entirely.

From the above Instagram post by @tommelchiorre, “GT3RS update….seems several Porsche models are being held up in US customs due to Micro Chip issue. Seems these cars including 3RS model is one of them will remain in port until the replacement chip ( ECU part) is replaced. They do not expect this to happen for weeks. 🤯 Could be 3 weeks or April the cars will be released.”

Some commenters in this thread on Porsche enthusiast forum Rennlist have commented that their cars were completed as long ago as November, and either are waiting in port or have not been released from Germany at all.

Another anonymous source shared with Jalopnik this update from their ordering dealer:

Port Shipping Delays

2/1/2024 UPDATE: We recently informed you of a delay in delivering certain Porsche vehicles from ports due to a customs issue. We have been working diligently to address this, but it has now become apparent that this process will take some time to resolve, and we are consequently updating the delivery dates on certain cars currently either at ports, or due to arrive shortly. This delay does not affect either the 718 or Macan, deliveries of which continue as normal. At issue is a small electronic component that is a part of a larger control unit, which will be replaced. Arrangements for replacement parts are being made to begin this work as soon as possible. We are working as a priority to resolve this issue and to provide you and our customers with more regular updates. In the meantime – and out of caution – we are revising the estimated delivery dates to reflect the likely delay more accurately. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work together to support our customers.

1/19/2024 UPDATE: We continue to have a delay in delivering certain vehicles from U.S. sea ports to dealers. This is due to a customs issue impacting U.S. entry. We are working diligently to resolve the issue. We are aware of delays in delivering certain vehicles from ports to dealers. We will provide a further update as soon as possible

We have reached out to Porsche for comment and will update this post accordingly when we received a reply.

Update 2:25 p.m.

We reached out to Frank Wiesmann, manager, Product Communications at Porsche Cars North America. He had this to say about the delayed cars:

“We are working to rectify a delay in delivering certain Porsche vehicles from ports to dealers due to a customs issue. At issue is a small electronic component that is a part of a larger control unit, which will be replaced. The first shipments of replacement parts are now on the way and will be fitted as soon as possible. We will provide additional updates to our dealers and customers in due course.”