Leipzig is still expanding to produce at the end of 2013 a smaller SUV, the Macan. Employment will increase by another 1,000.
Porsche has marked the tenth anniversary of what was at the time a controversial expansion into the truck market. However, the Porsche factory opened in Leipzig during 2002 to build the Cayenne SUV has proved to be a successful investment that has since grown to produce another controversial – but just as profitable vehicle, the Panamera sedan.
All but the most die-hard ideologically driven Porsche fans cannot deny that with production doubled since the early days and employment tripled, this is a Saxon success story. By July 2012 the 500,000th Porsche ‘made in Leipzig’ will roll off the production line.
To mark the plant’s tenth anniversary, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performed a concert for violin and orchestra by Dimitri Shostakovich as well as the Third Symphony by Johannes Brahms conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
“Ten years ago, nobody could have guessed at the success story of our Leipzig plant. Today, some 500 Cayennes and Panameras bound for more than 110 countries leave the production halls daily,” said Matthias Müller, CEO Porsche AG.
Leipzig is still expanding to produce at the end of 2013 a smaller SUV, the Macan. Employment will increase by another 1,000.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
