dark knight

I agree I too wonder why a 4 cyl, oh well, sometimes the euro market dictates what we get here, I cant imagine moving all 718 production to the current line, they must have new bldg or they must be making just a few a day like before

C.J. Ichiban

You guys are failing to address product cycles, which in a way are like the type of local fruit that is produced.

They are now building 991.2 cars with the little turbo engines (3.0L or whatever). They have built 90-100% of the planned volume of GT3, GT4, Gt3RS. Last few dozen are trickling out. Worldwide those 3 models account for about 9,000-10,000 cars (over the course of 3 Years) or less than 10% of the total 911 production (i know the cayman is not a 911 just using for reference).

If Porsche stops making those cars, or just the annual GT car production, then it makes more sense to retool the production line for another lower volume car like 718 series rather than lay dormant at lower volumes of 991.2 cars.

For a company producing 100,000- 200,000 cars a year overall, you have to believe they have some great plans!

GT3/RS and GT4 production is effectively over for a few years and if there is a GT2 or something like (in next phase) that we all know they will make less than 1000 of them, and still leaves room for probably 3,000-5,000 718's to be built to absorb that production drop off from GT3/RS.

Also- lets assume that a 718 has less parts and has an easier outsource cycle to fix (vs the carbon bucket seats, pccb, carbon fender, magnesium roof etc ) which in fact delayed production and even halted it at times in Stuttgart.

Loess

I believe they are producing around 220 cars per day and will be increasing to 240 or 250 after the summer holiday. I think this is through increased efficiency. They are running two shifts however I've heard that adding a third shift is problematic as they would have to drive hundreds of trucks through the city at night to keep the factory supplied for the third shift.

I also think that of the 220 cars only 10 or 15 are GT cars. It appears that NA RS production has slowed down a bit this month so either they are building more for ROW or they are building R's.

GrantG

I hope this is not true. I was expecting the 991.2 GT3 fairly soon (well less than a year).

Z356

Let's hear what Porsche wants to say about this move!





A little history here. When the Osnabrück Karmann plant first started
to produce 981's, it was just Boxsters.



http://press.porsche.com/news/release.php?id=731

Then Caymans were added at Osnabruck as this model was brought
later into production. But by the time I last visited the factory last July
(2015), all Boxster production had already been shifted to Zuffenhausen
& Osnabrück was only producing the Caymans! And now Caymans will
be all built at Zuffenhausen. So this shift has been 'gradual'.

Similarly, PAG plans to stop welding & painting Panameras at the VW
Group plant in Hanover & moved all of that to Leipzig. That will be
done when they shift all assembly of the Cayenne to Bratislava, which
was originally expected to happen in 2017.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5022b050-a...#axzz4CNwmwBSC

***
Loess heard right about the problem with a third shift at Zuffenhausen.
What most people don't realize is how close to a residential area the
Porsche factories are located at Zuffenhausen, especially Werk II.




***
I am very familiar with Usedomstrasse, which borders the western
edge of Werk II. I have walked the area, met some of the German
homeowners, talked with them about their interaction with Porsche
& discussed with them the noise coming from it (mostly parking cars
& moving parts/supplies about with forklifts)!



I could throw a baseball from the backyard of one of the houses
on Usedomstrasse and hit one of the parked newly built cars that
one can easily see from Schweiberdinger!



It's this close:











So a third shift, in an age of modern 'Just-in-Time'&
'Just-in-Sequence' logistics involving constant truck
traffic via Autobahn 81, then B10 into the environs
of Werk II would indeed be problematic in those late
evening/early morning hours...to say the least.

***

The interesting thing about what is going on with Porsche
expansion plans according to my sources is that it's very
focus on Zuffenhausen, not Leipzig (where they have lots
of room to grow). And the reason for that is that PAG's
powerful labor unions are more interested in increasing jobs
near Stuttgart for their members than in far away Leipzig
in the former East Germany! So factor that into your discussions!

The new acquisition areas by PAG in Zuffenhausen are in the
area south of the Porsche Museum, across the track of the
S-Bahn S6 station 'Neuwirtshaus/PorschePlatz' familiar to
many of you.



The target properties have been mostly older offices, manufacturing
& warehousing of third parties that are moving out of the area either
by design...or because PAG made them an offer they couldn't refuse!





Saludos,
Eduardo
Scottsdale

dark knight

^^great info, but now I'm more confused/worried, how do you add more production to a factory thats already at its limits, the length of the assembly line and time for it station is fixed, what does taht mean for us in the future, less supply same demand equals production limits and higher costs to us

Quadcammer

Z356

Obviously they are planning to ramp up production to 240 vehicles
(991 & 718) from current 220 per day at Zuffenhausen! So they are
not at the limit yet for the two daily work shifts in the current 5 day
work week. Keep in mind that only a few years ago (in 2012), they
were churning out only 170 vehicles per day at Zuffenhausen. So
PAG is increasing efficiency & productivity each year at Werk II!

And also know that if demand suddenly kicks up, PAG has a
few tricks up it's sleeve. In the past, PAG has instituted
additional WEEKEND work shifts! So that could add up to
8 days of production per month, potentially building 1920
additional cars each month...if they wanted to!

Also keep in mind that production of gt cars, which I assume is your
main area of interest & concern, is artificially kept low in accordance
to set marketing plans. Could they build & sell double or triple the
number of 911R's planned for production? Of course. But they have
artificially limited that to 991 for the entire world. And plans change
all the time. Note that we are now seeing new allocations of late
MY2016 991 gt3 RS as we speak...which nobody anticipated just a
few months ago here at Rennlist when we all thought production
would be over by now. So when they feel it's appropriate & serves
their goals, PAG has the ability to shift up production as 'needed'...
even in gt cars!



So don't worry, be happy!



Saludos,
Eduardo
Scottsdale, AZ

bronson7

Enjoyed the articles Eduardo. Thank you for keeping us up to date.