Pundits may have had their doubts when the model first appeared in 2002, but the Cayenne has proved to be a phenomenal success for Porsche, which has just assembled the 100,000th example of the second-generation model at its plant in Leipzig, Germany.
The 100,000th Cayenne II is a V8 petrol model in a “Pure White” finish and it’s being readied for shipping to Brazil, where it will be handed over to its new owner.
The production milestone comes less than two years after the market launch of the second generation of the Cayenne in May of 2010. The first generation of the luxury SUV sold 360,000 units from 2002 to 2010.
In addition, Porsche is also celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its Leipzig plant.
“Ten years ago the success story of Porsche Leipzig started. What was a greenfield site, today ranks among the most modern car plants in the world,” said Porsche AG board member Wolfgang Leimgruber.
“In addition to the Cayenne, Leipzig is also where Porsche produces the very successful Panamera luxury saloon, approximately 70,000 units of which have now rolled off the production line. That is why more than 93,800 vehicles left the Porsche plant in Leipzig in 2011, more than in any year before,” he added.
Porsche said that due to the “consistently high demand” for the Cayenne and Panamera and the introduction of a third model, the Cajun compact SUV, it will add a third production shift in Leipzig at the end of January.
The company added that the Cajun SUV would start to roll off the Leipzig production line from the end of 2013, which means that we’ll see it in showrooms in the first quarter of 2014.
