Porsche joins race for electric vehicles

German luxury carmaker Porsche AG announced it will launch its first purely electric sports car within two years in response to the increasing global appetite for new energy vehicles.

Franz Jung, president and CEO of Porsche China, said the Mission E model will be launched in 2019 and will be available in China from around 2020.

Jung said the car, which will meet customers' high expectations for typical Porsche performance, will be competitive in the electric car segment and provide customers with yet another choice. He said he believes that the company's serious rivals will not be models originating from internet-based companies.