'''Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, commonly known as Porsche''', is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company is owned by Volkswagen AG, a controlling stake of which is owned by Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE. Porsche's current lineup includes the 911, Panamera, Macan, Cayenne, and Taycan.[5]
The origins of the company date to the 1930s when German Bohemian automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche founded Porsche with Adolf Rosenberger,[6][7] a key figure in the creation of German automotive manufacturer and Audi precursor Auto Union,[8] and Austrian businessman Anton Piëch, who was, at the time, also Ferdinand Porsche's son in law. In its early days, it was contracted by the German government to create a vehicle for the masses, which later became the Volkswagen Beetle. After World War II, when Ferdinand, a member of both the Nazi Party and the SS, would be arrested for war crimes, his son Ferry Porsche, an SS volunteer, began building his own car, which would result in the Porsche 356.
In 2009, Porsche entered an agreement with Volkswagen to create an 'integrated working group' by merging the two companies' car manufacturing operations. By 2015, Porsche SE, the holding company spun off from the original Porsche firm, had a controlling interest in the Volkswagen Group, which included Audi and Lamborghini as subsidiaries.
History
Origin
Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951) founded the company called "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH"[9] with Adolf Rosenberger[10] and Anton Piëch in 1931.[11] The name is short for Ferdinand Porsche's full title in German, Doktor-Ingenieur honoris causa (lit. 'Doctor of Engineering, Honorary Degree').[12] The main offices was at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart.[13] Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting,[9]
Leadership
Chairman of the Board
Chief Executive Officer
- Wolfgang Porsche - 2007 -
Production and sales
The headquarters and main factory are located in Zuffenhausen, a district in Stuttgart, where Porsche produces flat-6 and V8 piston engines.[64] Cayenne and Panamera models are manufactured in Leipzig, Germany, and parts for the SUV are also assembled in the Volkswagen Touareg factory in Bratislava, Slovakia.[65] Boxster and Cayman production was outsourced to Valmet Automotive in Finland from 1997 to 2011, and in 2012 production moved to Germany.[66] Since 2011, the area of the Zuffenhausen plant has more than doubled, from 284000 m2 to 614000 m2, as a result of purchasing the former Layher, Deltona and Daimler sites, among others.[67][68]
Models
The current Porsche model range includes sports cars from the Boxster roadster to its most famous product, the 911. The Cayman is a coupé otherwise similar to the Boxster. The Cayenne is Porsche's mid-size luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV). A high performance luxury saloon/sedan, the Panamera, was launched in 2009.
- Note: models in bold are current models
Motorsport
Porsche has a record 19 outright wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[120] Porsche is currently the world's largest race car manufacturer. In 2006, Porsche built 195 race cars for various international motor sports events. In 2007, Porsche was expected to construct no fewer than 275 dedicated race cars (7 RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes, 37 GT2 spec 911 GT3-RSRs, and 231 911 GT3 Cup vehicles).[121]
Pronunciation
In keeping with the family name of founder Ferdinand Porsche, the company's name is pronounced in German, which corresponds to in English,[122] homophonous with the feminine name Portia. However, in English it is often pronounced as a single syllable —without a final. In German orthography, word-final ⟨e⟩ is not silent but is instead an unstressed schwa.
Reputation
In a survey conducted by the Luxury Institute in New York, Porsche was awarded the title of "the most prestigious automobile brand". Five hundred households with a gross annual income of at least $200,000 and a net worth of at least $720,000 participated.[123]
Porsche won the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS) in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2014.[124]
Reliability
A Canadian study in 2011 revealed that 97.4 percent of Porsches from the last 25 years are still on the road.[128]
In 2014, the Cayman and Boxster made the Consumer Reports list for most reliable vehicles on the road.[129]
Porsche's 911 has been officially named by the TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein; Technical Inspection Association) as Germany's most reliable car.[130]
See also
- CTS Fahrzeug-Dachsysteme
- List of automobile manufacturers of Germany
- List of Porsche engines
- Akira Nakai
- Porsche VIN specification
External links
- Porsche Automobil Holding SE – the top-tier parent company
- Porsche Newsroom – Service by the Porsche Communication for journalists and the online community.
- Porsche Engineering
- Porsche Consulting
- Porsche Leipzig
- Porsche YouTube channel
References
- Lucy Raitano. Porsche shares fall below IPO pricing Reuters, 2022-10-03^
- Wolfram Pyta, Nils Havemann und Jutta Braun: ''Porsche. Vom Konstruktionsbüro zur Weltmarke.'' Siedler, München 2017, ISBN 978-3-8275-0100-4, S. 37.^
- The Board of Management of Porsche AG - All BOM members - Porsche USA Porsche HOME - Porsche USA, retrieved 21 May 2021^