Porsche is considering relocating Cayenne SUV production from Slovakia to its Leipzig plant in Germany.
The potential move, first reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), would increase utilisation at the Leipzig factory as Volkswagen Group pursues a broader restructuring programme. According to the newspaper, the transfer would depend on workers in Leipzig accepting lower wages, reflecting the significant gap between labour costs in Germany and Slovakia.
Porsche declined to comment on the report. However, chief executive Michael Leiters recently said the company remained committed to its Leipzig operations and would have to take “decisive measures” to maintain competitiveness.
The report comes as Volkswagen is reassessing its manufacturing footprint in Germany. German business magazine Manager Magazin had recently said the group was considering closing four domestic plants and cutting up to 100,000 jobs as part of a sweeping efficiency drive.
Porsche has already begun reducing its own workforce, allowing contracts for several hundred temporary employees to expire and plans to cut another 200 jobs through voluntary redundancy programmes until August.
The Cayenne is currently assembled at Volkswagen Slovakia’s Bratislava plant, one of the country’s largest industrial employers. Cayenne is a premium model with high profit margins. Recently, the electric version began being manufactured at the plant.
Cayenne has been produced in Slovakia since 2017, following the announcement that the manufacturing would shift from Leipzig to Bratislava three years earlier. (The Slovak Spectator)