YRUNVS

Is any one knowledgeable about the source of the upholstery used in Porsche models? Is the upholstery all made in house or subcontracted? Just saw a Nat Geo Mega Factories show that showed the 911 leather upholstery shop that cut, sewed and installed the leather on the dashboards. Is this the case for the seats, doors, etc for the rest of the 911 and for that matter the rest of the models in the Porsche line. Thanks for replies. Doug

hahnmgh63

I do know that for the cars made in Stuttgargt (Zuffenhausen) that the leather is done in house as I've seen it on a factory tour, quite impressive. No idea about the Finnish cars or the Cayenne & Panameras made elseware.

Andy E.

Exactly as Hahn mentioned, all the leather surfaces for the Stuttgart-built models (911 & some Boxsters/Caymans) are done in house; as well as for the Tequipment special orders.

They are cut on a machine which scans/photographs each separate hide & superimposes the pre-designed patterns onto the hide using an oscillating laser; all this to minimize scrap of the expensive leather and/or Alcantara.

The Cayenne & Panamera leather surfaces are pre-stiched and installed onto the seats by a subcontractor which delivers the finished components to either the VW assembly plant in Bratislava,Slovakia for Cayenne vehicle assembly or the Leipzig facility for the Panamera.

YRUNVS

Thanks for your insights. Andy E when you say the leather is pre-stitched and then installed onto the seats at a subcontractor, do you know if the source of the leather is the same as the 911 models? I also have been trying to understand the relationship between the Bratislava plant and the Leipzig facility relative to the Cayenne models. Some accounts I have read state that only the painted body shells are delivered to Leipzig and then finished there, Dashboards, wiring, seats, drive trains etc. Also to my current limited understanding, the VR6 engine is installed in Slovakia where as the V8s are done at Leipzig. Would truly love to see a extended video of the assembly of the V6 Cayenne. I am ordering a 2013 V6 soon. thanks again for replies. Doug

Andy E.

Doug, similar to our own NAFTA requirements, a certain percentage of the vehicle's content must be produced in Germany so that a "Made in Germany" label can be affixed to the B-pillar.

The Cayenne bodies run alongside the Touareg assembly line in Bratislava, Slovakia where they are welded, painted and finished. Glass, exterior moldings, interior furnishings, wiring harnesses, seating & other equipment is installed onto the Cayenne where thereafter, a forklift will carry them over to a train where they are sent to Leipzig for final assembly.

Once in Leipzig, the Zuffenhausen-sourced engine and drivetrain are assembled and installed onto the incoming bodies; the engines are still produced in Zuffenhausen alongside the 911 engine production line. An odd bit of information; the Cayenne badging is physically installed at the Leipzig facility. I assume that a bean counter must have calculated the 0.07 hrs in labor in order to be conducive to the German content that is required.

BTW, the last I heard, there is zero manufacturing in Leipzig; only assembly. That may change now with the plant expansion currently underway for the Cayenne's new baby brother, the Macan.

Leipzig is in the eastern part of Germany where lower labor rates have yet to equal those of Stuttgart. It is also home to BMW where the 1-series and X1-series are currently produced, with future plans underway to build the new i-3 and i-8 electric cars.

Food for thought: Early Boxster production was performed at the Valmet manufacturing facility in Finland. The manufacturer's label was clearly marked "Made in Finland". Fisker Automotive's new Karma model is currently being produced by Valmet.

YRUNVS

Andy thank you for the information! So Both V6 and V8 engines are assembled in Zuffenhausen then shipped to Leipzig? I for some reason thought the V6 was made in a VW engine plant. I am frankly busting waiting to order for an April 2013 delivery and am looking forward to my first Porsche. Yes I know it is not a 911 but for me quite an event! thanks again for your kindness in sharing your knowledge. Doug

bigbuzuki

The VR6 engine used in the Cayenne is VW sourced and built.

It is the same engine used in the Touareg and Passat, but it is tuned to provide more power for the Cayenne.

The Panamera V6 engine is actually built by Porsche.

Below link has all the info.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...e/viewall.html

User 4221

The Cayenne seats are built by Johnson Controls. I'm not sure where the leather is sourced

YRUNVS

Thank you for your replies. I suspect this forum could be considered therapy for us first timers waiting to order and own their first Porsche. Thanks for all the infomation. Some how I would have thought that Johnson Controls would be anything but automotive seats and upholstery! If I understand it right, the VR6 is fully built at the VW engine plant and shipped to Leipzig for assembly of the Cayenne drive train to which the fully build body from Bratislava is attached. There must be a very fine line in the sourcing percentages that keeps the V6 "Made in Germany!"

bigbuzuki

The outsourced components are assembled in Germany.
The "marriage" of the engine/drivetrain to the chassis in Leipzig is one of the processes that enables the Cayenne to qualify for the "Made in Germany" tag.

Nhirsch

Transmission in my Porsche Cayenne Turbo is from Japan

vitaman

I noticed the same thing about my transmission.
Not sure if it's a good or bad thing.

bigbuzuki

All Cayenne automatic transmissions are from Japan, Aisin is the manufacturer.

ApeKillApe

I too am interested in learning about these titbits. To carry on the discussion of Cayenne base, is the VR6 assembled in the Porsche engine plant or a VW one?

Did Porsche ever do any modification to the VR6 engine itself - even tho the salesman had vigorously claimed that modifications had been done? I also notice that Touareg VR6 and Cayenne one have slightly different compression ratio. Does that mean the pistons or strokes are different; hence the difference in the torque number?

My last question is when I told my sales that VR6 does not have the Variocam, he kept telling me that I was wrong. Am I correct that the VR6 does not have the Porsche's Variocam?