Porsche Carrera GT To Be Built At Leipzig

Market Launch Planned For The Year 2003 Six months after announcing that the Carrera GT would actually become reality, the Board of Management of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche, Stuttgart, has now chosen its new factory in Leipzig, Germany as the production location. When the model is launched in the second half of 2003, around 1,000 units of the high-performance sports car will be produced at Leipzig. The planned output is two to three vehicles per day. Development work on the Carrera GT will continue at the Research and Development Centre in Weissach until it is ready to go into production. The selection of Leipzig means that approximately 70 new jobs will be created at the new Porsche facility. This is in addition to the 300 positions that were already planned to cover the Cayenne, which will also be produced at Leipzig.

The new V10 naturally-aspirated engines for the Carrera GT will be manufactured in the main factory in Stuttgart, Zuffenhausen, where the other 6 and 8 cylinder engines for the 911, Boxster and Cayenne model ranges are built. The Carrera GT engine build programme will create approximately 25 new posts at the Zuffenhausen location.

Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, declared: "With the Carrera GT, we hope to consolidate further both our expertise and our leading position in the sports car segment. Thanks to this innovative model, our previous corporate growth rate will climb to an interim peak. Our Leipzig plant, complete with running-in and test track, provides optimal conditions for production and the necessary test-drives. Furthermore, our new Customer Service Centre creates a unique atmosphere in which to present the Carrera GT models to their new owners. The decision to have Stuttgart supply the power unit, emphasises not only our appreciation of the original plant, but also our philosophy that the heart of a Porsche sports car - the engine - stems from Zuffenhausen. This is also one of the reasons why we decided to invest EUR 50 million in a new engine production factory last November."

Background Information

At the Paris motor show on 28 September 2000, Porsche presented a feasibility study of the Carrera GT. Its construction is based on pure racing technology. Sporting at least 5.5 litres of displacement, a 600 Nm torque and 558 HP, the Carrera GT guarantees top speeds of more than 330 km/h. The exact price of the Carrera GT has not yet been confirmed but it estimated that it will rest between EUR 350,000 and 400,000. The exact price will be confirmed closer to launch.