Sime Darby and Porsche have jointly announced the expansion of the carmaker’s assembly facility at Inokom, Sime Darby’s vehicle production and assembly facility in Kulim, Kedah. The larger facility is also rolling out a second model – the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid Coupe, which is the first Malaysian-assembled Porsche to be exported to Thailand.
Porsche’s facility in Kulim – now expanded to 11,000 square metres – was the first of its kind outside of Europe when it opened in 2022. To date, the plant has rolled out two generations and over 2,000 units of the Cayenne, and is now ready for the next phase – PHEV and exports to Thailand.
“This is a significant milestone for us at Sime Darby together with our partner, Porsche, in unlocking new opportunities in the ASEAN region while affirming the capabilities of our highly skilled local talents. We remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering product consistency that meets the discerning demands of Porsche customers, expanding beyond domestic market to our neighbouring country, Thailand,” said Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson, Sime Darby’s group CEO.
“Porsche broke new ground when it established a local assembly facility in Malaysia in 2022. Since then, we have achieved many significant milestones, for example when more than 2,000 locally assembled Cayennes found new homes with Malaysian families just two years after assembly commenced,” said Albrecht Reimold, member of the executive board for production at Porsche AG.
“Today, we prepare for the future by considerably enhancing our site in Kulim, making sure that this first regionally exported Cayenne fulfils our customers’ demands and expectations,” he added.
The local assembly facility for Porsche was designed and built with sustainability standards in mind. Solar panels with smart monitoring systems are installed on its roof to provide the power needed for operations; this contributes to reduced electricity consumption. Along with the footprint expansion, the capacity of these solar panels will soon be increased. There’s also rainwater harvesting on site.
Speaking of the Cayenne, the CKD E3 facelift model was launched here in October 2023 for RM600k. We don’t have the Cayenne S E-Hybrid in normal or coupe body styles yet, but since the PHEV is now assembled here, it’s fair to expect it in local showrooms soon. Or would it be the Cayenne Coupe with a the regular E3’s 3.0L V6?
Anyway, the latest Cayenne S E-Hybrid gets a 3.0L V6 turbo engine with 353 PS paired with an electric motor rated at 176 PS. Total system output is 519 PS and 750 Nm of torque, good for 0-100 km/h in just 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 263 km/h. Electric-only range is a useful 90 km in the WLTP cycle thanks to a 25.9 kWh battery.
Click on the links for more on the Cayenne S E-Hybrid Coupe and the regular-bodied, ICE-powered CKD Cayenne.
GALLERY: 2024 Porsche Cayenne facelift CKD
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