By Sean Szymkowski, Roadshow
The Porsche Taycan has thus far only brought good news to the people at Porsche. Not only did workers fight to have the first electric Porsche produced in Zuffenhausen, the decision created 1,500 new positions. Now, that figure is growing by another 500 positions.
The German marque on Tuesday said it will hire another 500 employees
to keep up with demand for the Taycan electric car. Following initial
figures after order books opened, the company received "well over 20,000
potential buyers" worldwide, according to a Porsche representative. The
extra 500 workers will give the automaker needed flexibility as Porsche
expects demand to grow.
Additionally, the company said it will complete fulfillment of the next
500 positions by the end of the second quarter in 2020.
The original 1,500 positions will be finalized in the coming days as
production gets off the ground in Zuffenhausen. The Porsche Taycan
received its own factory in the district, thanks to pooled resources
from current Porsche employees, management and board members.
Workers surrendered 0.25% of their scheduled wage increases through
2025. Executives gave up 0.5%. Total, they funded 25% of the costs to
produce the Taycan locally in Zuffenhausen. It would have been far
cheaper to build the car elsewhere, but Porsche said the Taycan needed
to come from the automaker's Stuttgart-based home.
Prices for the Taycan will start at $150,900 for a Taycan
Turbo model, while the range-topping Turbo S boasts a $185,000 price
tag. Either car receives a 93.4-kilowatt-hour battery pack, but power
ratings differentiate them. The standard Turbo makes 670 horsepower,
while the Turbo S' overboost function pushes the figure to 750 hp.
Eventually,
there will be more Taycan variants, presumably more affordable and with
less power. In the short run, the Taycan is just a cog in the Porsche
electrification machine. The company invested $6.5 billion to undertake
electrification efforts through 2022.
