Porsche has confirmed that Audi's coming electric sports car will be built on the platform Porsche developed for its electric 718 Boxster and Cayman. Chief financial officer Jochen Breckner said so on Porsche's third-quarter earnings call on October 27, answering an analyst from HSBC who asked about payments between the two Volkswagen Group brands.
"We are offering our electric platform for the 718 Boxster and Cayman, which is about to be launched next year for an Audi project, they call it C-Sport internally," Breckner said, according to a call transcript published by Investing.com. Audi will pay for it in 2027. Breckner put the amount at a low three-digit number in millions of euros.
Most of the money moves the other way. Porsche licenses Audi platforms for its SUVs, and Breckner said Porsche had paid Audi 300 million euros through the third quarter, with more to come in the fourth. Motor1 ties the project to the Concept C, an all-electric two-seater Audi showed in Milan in September 2025. Audi said the concept "previews a future production model." Its electrically retractable hardtop, made of two roof panels, was a first for an Audi roadster. In March, Audi said production would start in 2027 at its Böllinger Höfe site, where it built the R8, Motor1 reported. It will come only as an EV with a targa top, and it won't revive the TT or R8 name. The concept used a single motor driving the rear wheels, and Audi said the platform has room for a front motor and quattro all-wheel drive. It is 178 inches long and weighs about 3,725 pounds, which makes it slightly larger than an R8, according to Motor1.
Porsche's own car has taken longer than planned. Production of the gas-powered 718 ended in October 2025, Porsche said. In May 2025, Motor1 cited a report by German trade paper Automobilwoche that the electric version had slipped to 2027 because of weak EV demand and the bankruptcy of battery supplier Northvolt. A Porsche spokesperson had told Motor1 in March 2025 that it was due mid-decade. This summer, CEO Michael Leiters said Porsche would build it after months of doubt, InsideEVs reported, and Porsche now expects 2028 to be its first full year of production.
The gas engine is not coming back. In March, Motor1 reported that Porsche planned gas power for the top 718 versions, and Porsche itself had said so in 2025. On October 7 it scrapped that plan and made the next Boxster and Cayman electric only, InsideEVs reported, a change we covered in our look at Porsche's new lineup plan. Motor1 reports the battery will sit where the engine used to, which allows a lower seating position. These are small-volume cars. Porsche sold 18,612 Boxsters and Caymans in 2025, InsideEVs reported, and delivered only 3,291 in the first nine months of 2026 after production ended. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner has projected sales of "a very low five-digit number" for the Audi, according to Motor1. A dedicated electric sports car platform is expensive to develop, Motor1's Adrian Padeanu wrote, and sharing one spreads the cost while each brand handles its own design, tuning, and power. Porsche's new strategy also calls for more common parts, aiming to cut material costs on new models by about 10 percent compared with earlier plans.
Breckner also took a question on the Mission S, the mid-engined concept Porsche showed in New York on October 15 with no built-in center screen. "That car received really overwhelming feedback from all the stakeholders and groups that we were targeting with that car," Breckner said, adding that some people asked where to sign a purchase contract. It is still a vision model, and Breckner said it "will all take some time," Motor1 reported.
Until the Audi and the electric 718 show up, you can rate the TT, the R8, and the old Boxster on WhipJury.
Sources:
The earnings call date and recording: Porsche Investor Relations
The Breckner quotes, the C-Sport name, the platform payments, and the Mission S feedback: Investing.com
The end of 718 production and 2026 deliveries: Porsche
The 2028 production year and the common-parts cost target: Porsche
The Concept C description and roof: Audi
The 2027 production start, plant, EV-only targa plan, name, and Döllner quote: Motor1
The concept's motor layout, size, weight, battery placement, and Padeanu on costs: Motor1
Breckner on Mission S timing: Motor1
The Automobilwoche delay report and the mid-decade target: Motor1
Leiters on building the electric 718 and 2025 sales: InsideEVs
The EV-only decision and the earlier gas plan: InsideEVs
Photos: Audi and Porsche press images, and Tokumeigakarinoaoshima via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Cam Walsh has been obsessing over cars since before he could drive one. Based out of Atlanta, Cam covers automotive design, car culture, and the eternal debate over which whips actually look the part.
