Porsche Cajun production is scheduled for 2013.
Porsche announced in Stuttgart this morning that its baby Cayenne sport utility model, dubbed Cajun, will be built in Leipzig in eastern Germany. About 1,000 jobs will be created at the Saxony plant that also builds the four-door Panamera. Leipzig currently employs 650 workers. An unspecified number of jobs at Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart and at its Weissach R&D center will also be created.
Thus the fifth model in the Porsche line is scheduled to appear at the renowned sport car maker that ironically now sells more sedans and trucks than 911 and Boxster models. Cajun will be the least expensive Porsche when it appears.
Construction work for the huge expansion at the 400 hectare (1.5 square miles) site is scheduled to begin in 2011 for another body assembly line and paint shop. Production is scheduled for 2013.
“The decision in favor of this location is proof of our trust in the skills and qualifications of our Leipzig associates, and at the same time another contribution to the economic advancement of the region,” said Matthias Müller, chairman of the Porsche AG board of management.
Leipzig since opening in 2002 has been producing the Cayenne. After its first expansion, the Panamera four-seat sedan has been built there since 2009. Both are extremely successful models. Thus far, Porsche has invested around €280 million in Leipzig.
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.
