The 500,000th vehicle rolled off the production line in Porsche's plant in Saxony. The anniversary sports car is a white Cayenne with a V8 engine and was converted into a command vehicle for the Leipzig fire brigade with the assistance of Porsche's apprentices. In a ceremony Sunday, Matthias Müller, President and CEO of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, handed over the car keys to the Lord Mayor of the City as a token of the affiliation with Porsche's Leipzig home. Because everything started with a Cayenne in 2002. "Half a million vehicles in only ten years is a remarkable result for a luxury car manufacturer like Porsche. Behind the success is a strong workforce now numbering 1,005 employees at our production facility in Saxony. I am impressed by the high degree of technical expertise of our Leipzig colleagues. They send forth into the world the seal of quality 'Made in Germany' and with it a piece of Leipzig," said Müller in his speech to high-ranking guests. Leipzig's Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung emphasized the importance to the city's development of Porsche having set up shop there: "500,000 Porsches made in Leipzig is powerful evidence of Porsche's ability as a company to perform in the industrial location that is Leipzig. The world's most prestigious sports car manufacturer has put its faith in this city and written a success story. I look forward to the new, even larger Porsche plant." Leipzig is on course for growth: "Never have we produced as many cars as we do today, and we are expanding our production for an entirely new model line as well," the Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH, Siegfried Bülow, said, indicating a start of production date for the Macan at the end of 2013. – SG
