Some say it's bad enough that Porsche sullied its brand by building an SUV. Automotive News [sub] reports that Porsche is looking to add sacrilege on top of brand defilement; Cayennes may soon be produced stateside. Word first came out in Handelsblatt magazine, which cited "internal sources." VW spokesman Andreas Meurer confirmed the gastric rumor. "When we discuss whether to build the [VW] Touareg and [Audi] Q7 in the USA, we also talk about the Cayenne." Previously, we'd heard that the new U.S. plant would produce Jettas. But since The Land of the Free is the major market for the VW/Audi/Porsche SUV triplets, and the dollar's weaker than the V6 Cayenne's on-ramp acceleration, there's a compelling case for bringing VW Group truck production stateside. Germanophiles note: all three utes are currently built in Bratislava, Slovakia; BMW builds (and exports) their SUVs in South Carolina while Mercedes does the same in Alabama. As Big 2.8 supporters will tell you, as long as Cayenne profits end up in Zuffenhausen, it's still a German car. Technically speaking. On both points.
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According to an article in PCA’s most recent Panorama magazine, Cayennes face a 9200 euro showroom floor tax on CO2 emissions. And the EU governments will layer on annual assessments for same. Why not build them where you can sell them? There will still be a market in the price-insensitive income brackets here even as less expensive SUV/truck sales are reduced.
But strangely those same big 2.8 supporters never connected the dots to conclude that buying a Chrysler was the equivalent to buying a Toyota or a Honda when Daimler owned Chrysler. I’m sure the residents of the city and state which eventually get the factory will understand that profits are reinvested and that where they are reinvested is often in the US.
Well said, Sherman.
Besides, eventually we (Americans/Canadians) may end up with the situation that the British find themselves in (along with – let’s face it – about 160 or so nations of the world).
No “home” automotive companies at all.
Technically, the Canadians have had that situation since about the mid 1920’s when Gray-Dort went Tango Uniform.
Is an American Cayenne any worse than a Finnish Boxster?
To be honest I couldn’t care less where the Cayenne is built – its already not a Porsche in my eyes (just a reskinned VeeDub) so they might as well build it where its cheap so the upper middle class soccer mom’s can have their bimbo boxes within which to sip their lattes on the way to Neiman Marcus.
I have no interest in a Cayenne regardless of where it’s built. However, a locally built Cayman would be nice.
Here’s a thought. How ’bout the Big 2.8 build cars as solid as Porsche builds them and then we won’t have this conversation.
But they don’t and we are.
From what I have read about Finland, I would rate a car built there pretty high without even testing it for quality. Those folks are pretty serious about engineering and science. And they way they fought in WWII was pretty tough, too.
Because building SUVs here worked so well for Mercedes?
cretinx: “its already not a Porsche in my eyes (just a reskinned VeeDub)”
Yeah, a true Porsche would never be a reskinned Volkswagen, especially not to prop up the 911. I mean, Ferdinand and Ferry must be turning in their graves to see the Porsche family name to see the Porsche name associated with a Volkswagen product.
Landcrusher: “And they way they fought in WWII was pretty tough, too.”
The aid from Nazi Germany didn’t hurt. (Yes, I’m well aware of the moral complexities of the Continuation War, but it should at least be noted that they were nominally on the Wrong Side.)
Brian,
They weren’t really given an option of a good side though. Let’s see, we have the Nazi’s on one side, and the Bolsheviks on the other. Hmmm.
From what I have read about Finland, I would rate a car built there pretty high without even testing it for quality.
From my experience, the standard of workmanship in Scandinavia is extremely high. I’ve walked across wooden bridges in rural parts of Norway that were as detailed and well-finished as a piece of fine furniture.