"We are parting company with this estate," the spokesman told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), after the paper said Porsche was selling Schloss Bullachberg, near the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.

Porsche had purchased the castle five years ago, under previous boss Wendelin Wiedeking, hoping to transform the 180,000-square-metre (1.9-million-square-feet), and building into a luxury hotel.

But the required renovation work never got going, the FAS wrote.

The carmaker has built up massive debts as it looked to seal a tie-up with Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car manufacturer.

However, in August, Porsche said it had booked a first-half net profit of 149 million euros, bouncing back from heavy losses.