A Porsche Cayenne Feature

In our household, any TV show with “Porsche” in the title gets recorded automatically (what kind of household is this? lol). So, naturally, we had a recording of “High-End SUVs of the World: Porsche Cayenne”, a program recently aired on Discovery Channel.

The episode covered the new Cayenne’s factory production process and the model’s history. My husband said it was pretty interesting, so—even though I wasn’t expecting to care much about how a car is made—I watched it on a whim. To my surprise, I learned a lot and found it fascinating.

The Cayenne That Saved Porsche from the Brink

In 1948, 70 years ago, Porsche introduced the Porsche 356, the first model to carry the Porsche name. The company went on to establish itself as a two-seat sports car maker, but around 1993 it ran into serious financial trouble and came close to bankruptcy.

Annual sales had fallen to just 10,000–12,000 vehicles (by 2017, global sales had reached 246,000). Porsche responded with a bold change of direction: it launched a vehicle at the opposite end of the spectrum from a sports car—the brand’s first SUV.

At the time, longtime Porsche fans were furious about the Cayenne’s arrival. “Are they trying to kill the brand?” “Why on earth would Porsche make a four-door SUV?” they protested. The styling, with a front end reminiscent of the 911, also drew more criticism than praise at first.

But when the dust settled, the Cayenne had become the biggest hit in Porsche’s history. It handled beautifully, retained Porsche’s sporty character, and combined serious power with impressive off-road capability—a true all-rounder. The first-generation Cayenne Turbo came with a 400-hp twin-turbo V8, extraordinary power for an SUV at the time. It delivered both driving excitement and everyday practicality, and sales took off.

The Cayenne didn’t just pull Porsche back from the brink. It also helped the company move beyond its traditional sports car roots and become a sports car maker that builds the sportiest cars in every segment.

Wow, the Cayenne really is something special! (；ﾟДﾟ)

You could even say that the Panamera we know today owes its existence to the Cayenne’s success.

Where the New Cayenne Is Built

Do you know which country builds the new Cayenne? I always assumed it was made at Porsche’s Leipzig factory in Germany (the Panamera is built in Leipzig). In fact, it’s assembled at Volkswagen’s plant in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia in Central Europe.
*Images captured from Discovery Channel’s “High-End SUVs of the World: Porsche Cayenne”

I had no idea!

The plant is equipped with the latest technology, and 600 employees build the new Cayenne across three shifts. Production reaches 400 vehicles a day. “Wait—400 a day?” I thought. Apparently, the Cayenne accounts for more than 30 percent of Porsche’s global sales.

The factory where the new Cayenne is built was established in the early 1970s. It changed hands over the years, and Volkswagen took ownership in the early 1990s. In its early days, the plant hand-built the Volkswagen Passat. Over time, it added more models and upgraded its equipment, eventually becoming Volkswagen’s most advanced factory.

The site covers a staggering two million square meters. Tokyo Dome is about 46,000 square meters, so that’s roughly the equivalent of 43 Tokyo Domes!

That’s huge! (；ﾟДﾟ)