Came across this news in economic times and couple of other places.Assembling it here will reduce the prices considerably,but i doubt they are going to do it.Considering Porsche has no plants outside Germany.Still welcome news for Porsche lovers.
Source:
Porsche may assemble Cayenne in India-Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times
German luxury carmaker Porsche plans to start assembly operations in India for Cayenne sports utility vehicle that will more than halve the import duty on its top-selling vehicle, two people familiar with the development said.
The carmaker may use parent Volkswagen’s facility in the country to assemble the vehicle as low volumes do not justify a separate plant, they said.
Ashish Chordia, CEO of Porsche India, denied any such plans.
“Porsche stands for ‘Made in Germany’ quality, and currently there are no plans of either assembling or manufacturing Porsches in India,” he said.
The two people familiar with the carmaker’s plans said Porsche, which will be merged with Volkswagen next year, is looking at assembling only Cayenne, which accounts for more than 65% of Porsche sales in India.
If it is done, it will be the carmaker’s first such operation outside Germany. Currently, all Porsche cars are made at its plants in Zuffenhausen and Leipzig and exported to other countries. By importing completely knocked down (CKD) kits and assembling them here, Porsche can drastically reduce the import duty on the vehicle to 40% from 113% applicable to completely built units (CBUs).
Recently, Land Rover, the UK luxury carmaker now owned by the Tatas, announced plans to set up assembly operations in China and India for certain models.
Porsche has been in India since 2004. Last year, it sold 138 cars and has set a target of 250 cars in 2010. It opened Porsche Centres in Chandigarh, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad this year. It sells all its 32 models including the 911, Boxster/Cayman, Cayenne and Panamera range in the country.
The Cayenne is the highest selling petrol SUV in the premium luxury segment. It retails in the range of Rs 65 lakh to 1.27 crore.
Porsche will drive in the all-new diesel variant of the Cayenne by end July.
Currently Porsche retails through one official importer, Precision Cars India, that looks after the sales, marketing, dealer network development and all relevant activities for Porsche in India.
It's highly unlikely that a manufacturer who sells just 20-30 SUVs a month would assemble it here! Porsche must be selling thousands of Cayennes every month in the UAE or USA, but neither of the countries have Porsche assembling cars. It's always a direct import from the factory in Germany. The CEO of Porsche India himself has denied any plans, so there's not much to talk about.
