Porsche has gotten the greenlight from its supervisory board and board of management to begin development on a new Porsche model line.
This new model will be called the Panamera, and is considered to be a premium-class sports coupe. It will have four seats, four doors, and a choice of front-mounted engines driving the rear wheels.
The Panamera will be produced in Leipzig, Germany, where Porsche’s Cayanne SUV and Carrera GT supercar are assembled. It is expected to reach the market in 2009. It is the carmaker’s fourth model line after the 911, the Boxster, and the Cayenne.
“We will be developing a separate platform for our fourth model line at our Weissach R&D center,” said Wiedeking. “There are no plans for a joint venture with another car maker, but to ensure the profitability of this new model line we will cooperate more closely than so far with selected system suppliers.”
Porsche is investing over 1 billions Euros in the new model line. The company expects to sell at least 20,000 units a year. The Panamera’s name is an homage to the Carrera Panamericana long-distance race.
About 600 new jobs would potentially be created with the production of the Panamera. About 400 jobs will be created in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen at Porsche’s original plant, where the company will build the cars’ engines.
Chris is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
