Porsche to ramp up production in Leipzig

Porsche's manufacturing plant in the German city of Leipzig is soon to be home to 4000 more workers, the prestige car company has revealed.

It's a sign that Porsche is confident the new Panamera will sell in much larger numbers than the generation of car it replaces. Previously, the Panamera's body was built at a Volkswagen facility in Hanover, to be on-shipped to Leipzig where the mechanicals and trim were fitted.

Commencing with the new model, the Panamera will be entirely built in Leipzig, alongside the Macan and Cayenne SUVs. At the global launch of the Macan, motoring.com.au was on hand to ask about plans – if any – to expand the factory for the projected sales increase resulting from the introduction of the then-new Macan.

Since then, the Leipzig plant has been expanded at a cost of AUD $2.0 billion, of which $800 million was spent bringing the factory up to capacity for the new Panamera. The changes include a new body shop, measuring 56,000 square metres, located on the west side of the facility.

Porsche plans for the Leipzig factory to showcase the company's commitment to the environment, by incorporating photo-voltaic cells on the roof to offset electricity use during the day. Up to 800,000kWh of electricity will be produced from the solar panels in the course of a year, the company says.

The expansion of the facility is acknowledgement of Porsche's relationship with the Leipzig community.

"Porsche is intensifying its close ties with the city, the state and the people who live there," says Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche AG.

And the output will continue to meet the standards demanded by Porsche customers, says Siegfried Bülow, President and Chief Executive Officer of Porsche Leipzig GmbH.

"We have a highly motivated workforce which has proved that it can produce highly complex products in Porsche quality," Bülow was quoted saying in a press release.