Porsche Cayenne local assembly starts this March

KUALA LUMPUR: Early last year news first emerged about Porsche starting local assembly in Malaysia. Initial remarks were towards electrified Porsche vehicles, namely the Taycan electric-powered sports sedan. The reason for this was because the Taycan electric car is built on very few modules and so local assembly outside of Germany will not be very difficult. Not so true.

Then a few weeks later, insiders at Sime Darby Motors shared information that the Taycan EV needs a lot of investment for training personnel to handle the electric battery system and the motor assembly.

So, it was a very popular SUV that was to be locally assembled for regional ASEAN distribution. The Cayenne was and is the best-selling Porsche model and so local assembly made good business sense to bring its price lower to compete with the BMW X4, Audi Q8, Volvo XC90, and even the Mercedes GLC.

Neighboring ASEAN countries also had a high demand for the Cayenne SUV and so with a regional assembly, it made good business sense and would pave the way for even the Macan SUV to be assembled in the future for the region.

Sime Darby Motors has been a partner of choice for Porsche in Malaysia for the last 11 years, representing Porsche as its exclusive distributor and retailer for the sports car brand.

Porsche AG is partnering with Inokom Corp Sdn Bhd which happens to be a subsidiary of Sime Darby Motors to set up this brand new assembly plant in Kulim, Kedah.

“This partnership with Porsche marks the coming of age of our relationship with the brand. To be entrusted to assemble cars for one of the world’s most admired sports car brands speaks volumes of the highly qualified and competent Malaysian talent we have at Sime Darby and our ability to provide meaningful value to our partners,” Sime Darby Berhad Group Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Jeffri Salim Davidson said.

“The assembly portfolio is a key element in our growth strategy, and we are pleased to extend our relationship with Porsche from retail and distribution to include assembly,” he added.

“Malaysia and the whole ASEAN is a region of great potential and we look forward to the first locally assembled models reaching our Malaysian customers next year,” said Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG.

“As Porsche is moving into a new era of mobility, Malaysia and the ASEAN region are gaining an increasing importance. This step now is part of a long-standing initiative to keep pace with rapidly evolving customer and market demands.”

“Every Porsche assembled by Sime Darby will go through the same rigorous standards and processes as its European counterparts. Quality will be a shared key commitment between Porsche AG and Sime Darby to all our customers, in assembling Porsche vehicles.

We will continue our close engagement with Porsche AG to ensure that we meet the Porsche standard every step of the way,” Dato’ Jeffri said.

So, the first locally assembled Porsche Cayenne SUV will start production this March 2022, and the launch event is scheduled for the end of March 2022. We will update you on its pricing and specification right after the launch event.

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