VIENNA – Volkswagen’s Osnabrueck, Germany, car plant will begin volume production of the Porsche Boxster sports car this fall.
Volkswagen took over the factory from bankrupt assembler Wilhelm Karmann in 2009 and launched production of the new VW Golf Cabrio there in March 2011.
Porsche plans to use the Osnabrueck facility to handle overflow production from its main plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany. Pilot production will begin this summer.
While the Boxster’s official Job One is confirmed for this fall, exact timing of the project and expected volumes remain unclear.
Total capacity of the Osnabrueck factory, which is limited by the paint shop, is about 100,000 vehicles a year.
Finnish contract-assembler Valmet Automotive used to be Porsche’s partner for overflow production, but output of Porsche cars was phased out there last year.
Valmet manufactured 227,890 Porsche Boxster and Cayman sports cars at its plant in Uusikaupunki, Finland, between 1997 and 2011.
