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Porsche Mission E set for launch by 2020

Porsche will bring the Mission E electric sedan to production by 2020. The company's board just gave the thumbs up for further development of the vehicle on Dec. 4. "Even in a greatly changing motoring world, Porsche will maintain its front-row position with this fascinating sports car," Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, chairman of the supervisory board of Porsche AG, said in the model's announcement. The Mission E debuted at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show as a long-slung sedan in a mix of aluminum, steel, and carbon-fiber reinforced polymer. The concept featured two permanent magnet synchronous motors with over 590 horsepower, all-wheel drive with torque vectoring, and four-wheel steering. Porsche claimed that the model could reach 62 miles per hour in less than 3.5 seconds and offer a 500-kilometer (310.7-mile) range on the European testing cycle. Plus, the brand alleged the vehicle could lap the Nordschleife in less than eight minutes. The concept version also boasted an 800-volt charger to provide 80 percent of the range just 15 minutes after the driver plugged it in. We won't know for some time how much of this cutting-edge tech will actually arrive on the production version, but building the Mission E will coincide with 700-million euros ($765 million) in updates to the Porsche factory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. In the coming years, the company will upgrade its engine factory to assemble electric motors. The automaker will also add a new paint shop, assembly plant, and enlarged body shop there. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green light for Mission E The first 100% electrically powered Porsche is on its way. It will be launched at the end of the decade. The supervisory board of the Porsche AG today gave the green light for the Mission E project. Mission E, Concept Car, Press Conference IAA , Frankfurt, 2015, Porsche AG With the Mission E project, Porsche is continuing to back sustainable growth. In Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen alone more than 1,000 new jobs are being created. The company will be investing around 700 million euros in its main site there. Over the next few years, a new paint shop and a new assembly plant will be built. The existing engine factory is also being expanded for the production of electric motors. In addition, the existing body shop is being enlarged.

Next-gen Porsche Panamera loses its buttons

We have our first interior images of the next-generation Porsche Panamera. Caught undergoing testing in what looks like the area around Ann Arbor, MI, Porsche's second-gen sedan ditches the multitude of buttons found on the center stack of today's cars in favor of touch-capacitive controls. The new look works on the interior. It's clean and stylish, and the overall layout is clearly inspired by the Panamera Sport Turismo concept. We're particularly fond of of one of the features absent on the concept car – the wide, high-resolution infotainment screen. Judging by the lack of a dedicated controller on the center stack and the screen's proximity to where the driver's right hand would be, this is almost certainly a touchscreen. According to our spies, the software on that screen will be shared with Bentley, as will the Panamera's underlying platform. The new steering wheel, meanwhile, looks like it's been plucked straight from the 918 Spyder. There's a very visible protrusion at the four-spoke wheel's four o'clock position, and the button layout on the spokes looks identical to the hybrid hypercar. On the 918, this controller manages the hybrid systems, but as our spies claim this is the gas-powered Turbo S model, we aren't really sure what role it will play as we can clearly see drive mode controls on the center console. Speaking of the Sport Turismo, this prototype backs up the argument that the next Panamera will adopt the cleaner look of the 2012 Paris Motor Show concept. Even with the camouflage, the C-pillar and rear quarter window, squared-off trunk aperture, and the four LED accents in the headlights are clearly inspired by the Sport Turismo. However, the concept's most dramatic feature – its strong hatchback profile – doesn't seem to have made the transition into this prototype. We'd expect to see the new Panamera in either Geneva or Paris. The Swiss show is the unlikely choice, though, considering it's just over a month away and Porsche already has another big debut planned. So expect the new Panamera in the City of Light. Sales should begin some time in 2017.

VW rearranges leadership as brand focuses on electrification

The Volkswagen overhaul continues into next year with a raft of new executive appointments that CEO Mattias Muller says will enable "Faster decision-making and more efficient action." One of the headline moves is Porsche head of design Michael Mauer taking over VW Group design, succeeding Walter de Silva who retired in early November after running the Group's styling bureau since 2007. Among the sheetmetal on Mauer's resume are the Mercedes SLK and SL from the late nineties, the 2007 Porsche Cayenne, the Panamera, and, most recently, the 918 Spyder. He will retain his current role at Porsche in addition to the new responsibilities. Here's hoping some of the excitement seen in the 918 filters its way down to VW's recently mundane offerings. Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn was head of Group R&D from 2000 to 2003, then went to Bentley, then left the company for the German Association of the Automotive Industry in 2012. He has been lured back to his old role in charge of Group R&D, taking over the shoes recently worn by Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, who resigned in early December while still suspended over his involvement in the diesel emissions fiasco. Ralf-Gerhard Willner takes over Group Product and Modular Toolkit Strategy, after leading development vehicle concept divisions at Audi and VW, and being technical director at Italdesign Giugiaro. He will play a huge role as VW evolves and expands its current platform strategy to include purpose-built electric cars and flat batteries. All those bottoms will be in chairs in Q1 of next year. The number of department heads that report directly to Muller has also been cut, giving Muller more time to focus on "overarching issues of the future." VW says that primary among them will be technology issues from EVs to digital integration. Back in October the company hired Thomas Sedran away from Opel as a lead strategist, his job being to figure out how each of those technical departments and the Group's brands navigate the marketplace and those "issues" from now until 2025. The press release below has more. Related Video: Volkswagen Group continues structural and staff realignment- Functions in CEO's area of responsibility reorganized- Muller: "Faster decision-making and more efficient action"Wolfsburg, 17 December 2015 - The Volkswagen Group is becoming more streamlined and speeding up its internal decision-making process. To that end, functions in the area of responsibility headed by CEO Matthias Muller are being restructured.