Porsche looks to corner emerging Asian markets

Porsche is expanding its presence in Asia with a new R&D Centre in Shanghai, and a production site in Malaysia in line with its strategy to invest in markets outside Europe.

The company's new Shanghai base will help the automaker gather further insight into the Chinese market - its largest single auto market - as well as improve local product development, the company revealed in a statement.

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The company is also looking to strengthen its presence in the emerging markets of Southeast Asia.

This Malaysian site is set to open in 2022 and will be operated by local trading firm Sime Darby Berhad.

The plant will be responsible for analysing key development areas within the country and manufacture vehicles for Malaysia only.

“We’re driven by curiosity, by perpetually learning and finetuning our cars,” says company Chairman Oliver Blume. "We're proud to be a vibrant, global business and to be investing in localised programs to ensure our cars and services do reflect the specific needs of our markets outside of Europe. To do this best requires a permanent presence.

With this new scheme, Porsche will now operate a total of 136 outlets on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

Southeast Asia represents a very dynamic market environment with significant growth and innovation potentials. To this end, Porsche is expanding its footprint in Malaysia by setting up a local assembly together with its long-standing partner Sime Darby Berhad.

The site will be responsible for the final assembly of specific models for the local market from 2022 onwards. The facility will operate alongside Porsche’s established European network of production sites.

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“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,” says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche.

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

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