May 16,2008 From Auto News
May 16--Porsche says it does not need to build its Cayenne SUV in North America and has no plans to do so.
Earlier this week, the German business newspaper Handelsblatt said the Cayenne could be built in a new U.S. factory planned by the Volkswagen group. U.S. production of the Cayenne would offset the affects of the weak dollar.
Porsche spokesman Albrecht Bamler said it would not make sense to build the Cayenne in the U.S. because suppliers that provide components for the SUV are in Europe.
Bamler said Porsche is protected against the financial effects of the weak dollar through currency hedging until 2013.
VW builds Cayenne bodies in its Bratislava, Slovakia, plant alongside the VW Touareg and Audi Q7. Cayenne bodies are shipped to Porsche’s Leipzig, Germany, plant for final assembly.
Handelsblatt said the next-generation Cayenne could be built in VW’s new U.S. plant after 2015.
Bamler said the launch of the next Cayenne was too far in the future to comment on.
VW’s new U.S. plant will set to open in 2010 and build 100,000 to 150,000 vehicles annually with a maximum capacity of 250,000 vehicles.
The plant will initially build the VW Jetta sedan and an all-new sedan that will be about the same size as the VW Passat.
VW said last month it had narrowed its list of states competing for a U.S. production facility to Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee.
VW’s supervisory board will discuss the location of the plant before the carmaker’s three-week summer break, which starts July 24.
The factory is part of VW’s plan to more than triple its annual U.S. sales by 2018 to 1 million including 800,000 VW and 200,000 Audi sales.
Porsche owns 31 percent of VW and plans to increase its stake to more than 50 percent in the next six months.
Editor: Haijing Qu
-
-
-
-
-
-
