Every Porsche model that I clicked on ...

Interesting website. I'm not sure how they get their info, but it makes sense in the cars I checked out. It does give you an idea of just how international cars are.

[abcnews.go.com]

... showed 0% made in America, with one exception....
The Panamera, which showed 62% made in America.
That can't be right.
Happy Porsche-ing,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

[www.arkansas.com]

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

IIRC they refer to the term as "production depth" or something similar. Our tour guide said that VW, for example, was something like 80%, i.e. VW manufactures 80% of the car themselves. Porsche was rather low, below 20% if my memory serves me correctly but that figure could be way off. One thing that I do remember clearly though was that even though the pistons, connecting rods, caps, etc. were made by another company, porsche balanced them themselves to get the precision high i.e. same weight among all six assembled piston, rod, etc. and they included them in the 20%. It wasn't hard to believe either; sheet metal stamped by BMW, transmissions by 3 different mfgs incl audi (IIRC) and ZF, seats by recaro, electronics by bosch, wheels by someone else, brakes by brembo, and so on. i also remember that we were told that recaro has 4 hours to deliver seats after they're ordered. amazing.

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MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010

dug up a 10 year old post on the old ppbb.com

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MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010

All auto manufacturers these days do more assembly of parts sourced globally than manufacturing. That's the model that everyone uses worldwide.

I was in Germany last fall and did a tour of both the engine and chasis assembly lines at Porsche and the AMG engine assembly line. It looks like things might have changed for Porsche engine assembly as we watched the engines move down the line, but the technicians stayed at their stations - each one doing a single operation. We spent a good bit of time watching a guy doing head assembly work. Our guide did say that the technicians are trained to do a variety of operations so that the may do different operations on various days, but when they get on the line in the morning, that is where they stay all day. Also it doesn't look like they dyno all engines any more either. The do a cold test of every engine to make sure that there are no leaks and that everything works, but they only do random sampling of engines to run hot on the dyno. The chasis assembly was the same - technicians cross trained to do a variety of operations, but doing s single operation for a day. One of the interesting factoids is that there are only something like 14 bolts that hold the top and the bottom of the chasis and suspension together. It was interesting to watch the two assembly lines merge and see the two assemblies get positioned and then a machine would install and tighten the bolts.

At AMG it is very much the one engine assembled by one technician. In fact the the last step of the assembly process is for the technician to install a plate on the top of the engine with his signature. Again, every engine is cold tested, but only a small random sample are hot tested on the dyno. Any engine that does not pass the cold test is sent back to the technician to correct. Scott (Mello Yellow on PPB got to meet the guy that assembled the engine on his CLK 63 Black, but the guy couldn't speak English.

wow, i guess things have changed. makes me feel even older still; "young man, i remember the days when an entire porsche engine would be assembled by one person…"

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MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010

We did the tour also (in 2000) and at that time, they had one person doing an engine start to finish.
I saw a program on the tube a few months back that highlighted various car factories which including the Stuttgart plant, showing the assembly of a GT3.The motor seemed to be going through a much more automated process than 10 years ago and with more people involved in the building of an individual motor. Can anyone confirm this?

I think I saw that same show on TV, and I think this is it on youtube: (part 1 of 5)
Ultimate Factories: Porsche

Pretty damn interesting!

and I had a Mazda made in Michigan by UAW workes with 85% content versus a Dodge MiniVan made in Canada with a Japan sourced engine.

So recently I needed a luxo-mobile for my wife. Quiet and comfort and regular gas were the top three items. Buick Lacrosse versus Toyota Avalon was what it came down to. Toyota built in Kentucky 70% versus Buick made in Kansas at 57%. So what is the American car? Not what you think is it....

Mike:
Is either Avalon's engine or transmission built in the US?