Porsche has expanded their Leipzig plant four times already to make room for additional production, and are set to break ground on a fifth expansion since the factory was opened in 2002. The Saxony-based Porsche Werks was built to facilitate the production of Porsche’s Cayenne, and the limited Carrera GT. When Porsche announced the Panamera, they added nearly 50,000 square meters to make room for the four-door. Two new additions were made to the facility in anticipation of the Macan’s launch.
Now, four years later, Porsche is planning another add-on to make sure the next generation Macan will have plenty of room to grow. As it stands, Porsche can’t produce the small SUV quickly enough to sate international demand. As their sales figures continue to grow, Porsche will have to increase production to keep up. Representatives of the company say that investment in the Leipzig plant will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars in coming years. The company has already invested some $1.5 Billion dollars in the facility since it was opened.
Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG:
“The expertise and capabilities of our colleagues in the Leipzig plant were pivotal to this decision. This move is further proof that the plant is fit for the future.”
The next-generation Macan has not yet been previewed or spied, but we’ll take this as the announcement of the upcoming replacement. The Macan was launched in 2014 and given a light refresh in 2016. Being that the assembly line will take at least a year to build and staff, we may see it live on in its current configuration through at least 2020, so don’t expect the next-gen model to be in your driveway any time soon.
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Wonder if some of this decision to go Leipzig instead of Stuttgart is ......1.) easier land-area expansion and 2.) lower labor costts (???).... in this former East German region ???