Porsche Plans €1.1 Billion Upgrade for German Facilities

Volkswagen AG's Porsche brand says it will spend €1.1 billion by 2020 to update its production and research facilities in Germany.

The investment is part of a labor agreement that bans layoffs until at least 2020 in exchange for more flexible work rules.

Porsche says its Zuffenhausen complex will add new engine and body shop operations and expand capacity to prepare for 911 and Boxster sports car and next-generation Cayman crossover production. Upgrades also are planned for the company's Ludwigsburg corporate services and Weissach product development facilities.

Uwe Hueck, chair of Porsche's general works council, also is lobbying the company to add a new model series that would be built in Zuffenhausen. He says the works council will present a plan this autumn describing "a new era" in labor's thinking if Porsche's supervisory board approves the new series.