Currently reading: Porsche applies for £1.5bn loan

Car maker says it will take out loan at commercial rates, rather than ask government for cash

Porsche has asked the German government for a loan, raising questions over its ability to manage its nine billion Euro (£7.8 billion) debt mountain.

A Porsche spokesman revealed the company asked for a 1.75 billion Euro (£1.5 billion) loan, but stressed it didn't want to take the money from a government industry rescue fund.

"We don't want to take money at the expense of the taxpayer," a spokesman told Automotive News.

But the state banking group running the fund - KfW - said any loan would have be paid from the roughly 100 billion Euro (£86.6 billion) state scheme that was put in place by the government to to stimulate the flagging German industry.

In March, Porsche tried to raise 12.5 billion Euros (£10.8 billion) in loans to refinance its debt, but only managed to get 10 billion (£8.6 billion).

It has lined up another 750 million (£649 million) in bank loans since then, leaving it on the lookout for another 1.75 billion (£1.5 billion).

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