Porsche Expanding R&D in China

Ken Zino of Auto Informed.com on Porsche Expanding in R&D China

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Porsche said today that it is expanding in R&D in China, the world’s largest car market. The new permanent Research and Development center in Shanghai will increase employment in what is Porsche’s biggest single market for six years running. China, arguably, is becoming or is now the center of the automotive universe.

“Having a permanent home for this work in China will bring obvious benefits, particularly when it comes to reflecting and predicting our customer’s needs in China, a nation that has truly welcomed Porsche and has taken our cars to heart to the extent that it’s been our biggest sales market,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche.

Porsche, of course, has permanent research, development and testing locations on several continents. They tie to the company’s engineering home in Weissach (Germany). These are Arjeplog in northern Sweden where most of the extreme cold weather testing is conducted, to the climate and roads found in Johannesburg, South Africa to the (flamed?) dry heat of California.

Porsche Digital, a subsidiary established in 2016, concentrates on researching and developing new customer-focused digital services. It is nominally headquartered in Germany with key offices in the US, Spain, China, Israel and Croatia.

Porsche is also building its presence in emerging markets of Southeast Asia. This includes the implementation of the region’s first cross-border high performance charging network in cooperation with Shell. Porsche will set up “small-scale local assembly” in Malaysia to join the company’s network of production sites. The vehicles will specifically match local requirements and will be available for Malaysia only with its long-standing partner Sime Darby Berhad. The Malaysian site will be responsible for the final assembly of specific models for the local market from 2022 onwards. The facility will operate alongside Porsche’s established European network of production sites.

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