Porsche Automobil Holding SE , usually shortened to Porsche SE ( /ˈpɔrʃə/ ), a S ocietas E uropaea or European Public Company, is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury high performance automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Piëch and Porsche families. Porsche SE is headquartered in Zuffenhausen, a city district of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg.
Porsche SE is the 'top-tier' parent- and holding company, which includes two main subsidiaries - Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (which stands for Doktor Ingenieur honoris causa Ferdinand Porsche Aktiengesellschaft ), often shortened to Porsche AG , and Volkswagen AG (known in English as Volkswagen Group). Porsche AG is the subsidiary of Porsche SE which is responsible for the actual production and manufacture of the Porsche automobile line, and Volkswagen AG is the 'top-tier' parent of the Volkswagen Group automotive marques; which include (but not limited to) Audi, Bentley Motors and Bugatti Automobiles.
Overview
It was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, an Austro-Hungarian engineer born in Maffersdorf, Austria-Hungary (today Vratislavice nad Nisou, Czech Republic). Porsche is also known for designing the first Volkswagen, but Béla Barényi is credited with having conceived the basic design five years earlier. The company currently produces 911 (997), Boxster and Cayman sports cars and Cayenne sport utility vehicles. The latest model line, the four-door Panamera saloon (sedan), was launched on Monday, 20 April 2009.
In August 2009, Porsche SE and Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) reached an agreement that Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG would merge in 2011, to form an "Integrated Automotive Group".
Reputation
In a May 2006 survey, Porsche was awarded the title of the most prestigious automobile brand by Luxury Institute, New York; it questioned more than 500 households with a gross annual income of at least US $200,000 and a net worth of at least US $720,000. The current Porsche model range includes sports cars from the Boxster roadster to their most famous product, the 911. The Cayman is a hard top car similar to the Boxster in a slightly higher price range. The Cayenne is Porsche's mid-size luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV). The limited run Carrera GT ceased production in May 2006. A high performance luxury saloon/sedan, the Panamera, was launched on Monday, 20 April 2009, but is due to be released worldwide in September and October. Recently, a spider version of the Boxster was announced, and will be available after it is unveiled at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Porsche was awarded the 2006 J.D. Power and Associates award for the highest-ranked nameplate in its Initial Quality Study (IQS) of automobile brands.
As a company, Porsche is known for weathering changing market conditions with great financial stability, while retaining most production in Germany during an age when most other German car manufacturers have moved at least parts of their production to Eastern Europe or overseas. The headquarters and main factory are still in Zuffenhausen, a district in Stuttgart, but the Cayenne (and formerly the Carrera GT) is manufactured in Leipzig, Germany, parts for the SUV are assembled also in Bratislava, Slovakia. Most Boxster and Cayman production is outsourced to Valmet Automotive in Finland until 2012. The company has been highly successful in recent times, and indeed claims to have the highest profit per unit sold of any car company in the world.
Porsche has for many years offered consultancy services to various other car manufacturers. Audi, Studebaker, SEAT, Daewoo, Subaru, and Yugo have consulted Porsche on engineering for their cars or engines. The Lada Samara was partly developed by Porsche in 1984. Porsche also helped Harley-Davidson design their new Revolution water cooled engine that is used in their V-Rod motorcycle, as Porsche had previous experience switching from air-cooling to water cooling.
SUV reception
According to CNBC, even an at-the-time questionable foray into the SUV market with the Cayenne in 2003, couldn't damage Porsche credibility. The Times journalist Andrew Frankel says on one level, it is the world's best 4x4, on another, it is the cynical exploitation of a glorious brand that risks long-term damage to that brand’s very identity in the pursuit of easy money with his verdict being "Great car, if only it wasn't a Porsche". Despite the controversy faced by critics, the Cayenne has been a success, generating enough profit for the company to invest in and upgrade the existing model range, as well as fund the Panamera project. As of August 2009, well over 250,000 Cayennes have been built.
History
Professor Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1930, with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the center of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, but did not build any cars under its own name. One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, a German: Volkswagen . This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time. The first Porsche, the Porsche 64, was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle.
During World War II, Volkswagen production turned to the military version of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kübelwagen, 52,000 produced, and Schwimmwagen, 14,000 produced. Porsche produced several designs for heavy tanks during the war, losing out to Henschel & Son in both contracts that ultimately led to the Tiger I and the Tiger II. However, not all this work was wasted, as the chassis Porsche designed for the Tiger I was used as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. Porsche also developed the Maus super-heavy tank in the closing stages of the war, producing two prototypes.
At the end of WW2 in 1945, the Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg fell to the British. Ferdinand lost his position as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, and a British Army Major - Ivan Hirst was put in charge of the factory. (In Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen company magazine dubbed him "The British Major who saved Volkswagen.") On 15 December of that year, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes, but not tried. During his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsche's son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car because he could not find an existing one that he wanted to buy. He also had to steer the company through some of its most difficult days until his father's release in August 1947. The first models of what was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set threshold, production was begun. Many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it was the first model sold by the fledgling company. Porsche commissioned a Zuffenhausen-based company, Reutter Karosserie , which had previously collaborated with the firm on Volkswagen Beetle prototypes, to produce the 356's steel body. In 1952, Porsche constructed an assembly plant (Werk 2) across the street from Reutter Karosserie ; the main road in front of Werk 1, the oldest Porsche building, is now known as Porschestrasse. The 356 was road certified in 1948.
Porsche's company logo was based on the coat of arms of Free People's State of Württemberg of former Weimar Germany, which had Stuttgart as its capital and became part of Baden-Württemberg after the political consolidation of West Germany in 1949.
Not long afterwards, on 30 January 1951, Ferdinand Porsche died from complications following a stroke.
In post-war Germany, parts were generally in short supply, so the 356 automobile used components from the Volkswagen Beetle including its engine, transmission, and suspension. The 356, however, had several evolutionary stages, A, B, and C, while in production, and many Volkswagen parts were replaced by Porsche-made parts. The last 356s were powered by entirely Porsche-designed engines. The sleek bodywork was designed by Erwin Komenda who also had designed the body of the Beetle. Porsche's signature designs have, from the beginning, featured air-cooled rear-engine configurations (like the Beetle), rare for other car manufacturers, but producing automobiles that are very well balanced.
In 1964, after some success in motor-racing, namely with the Porsche 550 Spyder, the company launched the Porsche 911 another air-cooled, rear-engined sports car, this time with a six-cylinder "boxer" engine. The team to lay out the body shell design was led by Ferry Porsche's eldest son, Ferdinand Al
1/43 MiniChamps '01 Porsche 911 Cabriolet - Red - 1/43 MiniChamps '01 ...
milezone.com We specialize in 1/64 scale diecast toy cars from Hot Wheels to Johnny Lightning to Greenlight.
The Hopkinson Report » Episode 01: Porsche vs. iPhone
The Hopkinson Report: Wired.com's marketing guy compares the iPhone to a Porsche, and asks, "Has the iPhone reached 'no substitute' status?" A lot of people would choose to spend ...
www.carlustblog.com
Comments on Porsche 959 . TypePad . 2009-01-20T23:41:17Z Editor http://www.carlustblog.com/ tag:typepad.com,2003:http://www ...
Porsche Cars | All New 2010 2009 Porsche Car Models at Automotive.com ...
Research Porsche cars and all new models at Automotive.com; get free new Porsche prices, MSRP, dealer costs, and more, buy a new Porsche car, or read reviews and research at ...
Porsche Cars | 2010 2009 Porsche Car Models | Research New Porsche ...
Research 2010 2009 Porsche cars in the buyer’s guide at Automobile Magazine. Select a new Porsche model to learn more about the various submodels, prices, pictures, comparisons ...
New Porsche Cars - Find 2009 2010 Porsche Car Prices & Reviews - Motor ...
Find new Porsche cars and 2009 2010 Porsche cars at Motor Trend. Research a new Porsche car, find Porsche prices, read reviews, or buy a new Porsche online today.
01 Quality - Porsche Approved - Pre-owned Vehicles - Dr. Ing. h.c. F ...
More than 70 % of all Porsches ever built are still on the road today. This record value speaks for itself. To give you maximum security when buying a Porsche, all vehicles within ...
'01 Porsche 996 Twin Turbo
Owned by John Stanch from NJ. After building a great M3 John upgrading by getting a 996 from a Pro Skateboarder with very little mods. John called Brian right away to come up ...
Future Porsche | View Concept Porsche Cars, Photos, Reviews, & New Car ...
Get a sneak peek into the future at Automotive.com; view future Porsche cars by model to browse photos, reviews, evaluations, and more for all concept Porsche cars, sneak previews ...
Future Porsche Cars, Concept Cars, & Future Porsche Vehicle Photos ...
View the latest future Porsche concept cars, spy photos, and Motor Trend’s famed Future Vehicle Forecast inside the future Porsche cars section of Motor Trend online.