Porsche’s IPO plan to boost its electric vehicle (EV) development with the help of a multi-million-pound funding boost and additional “entrepreneurial freedom” could yet be scuppered, it has been claimed.

Volkswagen Group could raise over €60bn (£52.3bn) to fund the performance carmaker’s zero-emissions future in what would be one of Europe’s biggest ever IPOs while shareholders and former owners the Porsche and Piech families see the move as a way of gaining greater control as they would buy 12.5% of Porsche under the deal.

But Birmingham Business School professor and Senior Fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe, David Bailey, believes the move is still subject to uncertainty.

VW’s continued control of the Porsche brand and a ‘labyrinthine’ governance structure could prove deal breakers for potential investors, he believes.

“Porsche is the most profitable part of VW and its Taycan model is seen as a serious Tesla-challenger, hence the attractiveness to VW selling it off to raise cash when big investment is needed in new tech”, Bailey told AM.