History
Ferdinand Porsche founded the company in Stuttgart, Germany in 1931, initially as a vehicle development and consulting company. The Piech and Porsche families jointly own the company. The German Government tasked Porsche to build a car for the people. It was called the ‘Volkswagen Beetle’. It is one of the most successful automobile designs ever created. The Porsche 64, developed in 1939 used many of the same components found in the Beetle. During World War 2 they produced several designs for heavy tanks but lost out to Henschel & Son.
However, these designs were used as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. The original German designation was Panzerjager Tiger. This long-range weapon was designed to take out enemy tanks before they could reach an effecting firing range. After the war parts were in short supply, necessitating the company to use Beetle components in their engines. By 1954 engines were specifically built by Porsche designers that featured air-cooled rear-engine configuration. In 1984 The PEG assisted Harley-Davidson in designing the Revolution 60 Degree v-twin water-cooled engine and gearbox that is currently drives their V-Rod motorcycle.
Major Events
They produce luxury cars and sports cars; provide automotive financial services as well as engineering services. Subsidiary companies include Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Porsche AG, Porsche Design Group, and Porsche India. Over the years the Porsche Engineering Group offers consultant services to Audi, Opel, Studebaker, Mercedes, Daewoo as well as many other auto manufacturers. Porsche AG is responsible for the actual production of the Porsche line of vehicles and by 1964 Porsche had a successful line of race cars including the 550 Spyder and the Porsche 911. The latter has become Porsche’s iconic model and is successful in rallies, on the racetrack and in road card sales.
The Porsche line currently includes the Boxster and Cayman sports cars, the 911, the Cayenne and Macan SUVs and the 4-door Panamera sedan and the Panamera S E-Hybrid, which are both assembled in Leipzig, Germany. In 1972 the company’s legal form was changed from limited partnership to public limited company. F.A. Porsche founded Porsche Design, creating such luxury items as watches, furniture and an exclusive line of sunglasses. Porsche SE is the owner of Porsche AG and in June 2007 became a holding company for a 50.1% stake in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH. It in turn holds 100% of Porsche AG and 50.7% of Volkswagen AG. Porsche agreed to merge with Volkswagen by 2011 but in December of 2009, Porsche SE lost control of Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH. As a result Porsche SE and Volkswagen AG are a joint venture. Volkswagen holds 50.1 in Porsche’s capital for €4.46 billion plus one Volkswagen share. As a result of trying to acquire a majority holding in Volkswagen AG Porsche was faced with debts that exceeded €10 billion. Porsche appointed Mattias Muller, a Volkswagen executive, to become the company’s new CEO.
Going Forward
The Porsche brand is the most successful vehicle in motorsport with a total of more than 28,000 victories. Porsche expects to construct at least 275 dedicated race cars. It launched some hybrid models in 2010 and also released an electric model of the Porsche Boxster. Toyota has been assisting the company in learning about ‘lean manufacturing’ and hybrid technology.
Porsche continues to maintain a strong focus on the future of its brand in Australia as exemplified by http://www.porsche.com/australia/ – and has celebrated with a recent sales victory of getting 162,000 cars out to new first-time buyers. Other advancements are embodied in the 2014 Porsche 911 Targa, featuring the innovative roof that has been re-implemented into the modern classic design. Porsche continues to implement and design new technologies into every vehicle they produce, making them one of the most recognized producers of sophisticated, elite automobiles.
