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Porsche names new chief for North America

Porsche has named a new president and CEO for its North American division. The role will now fall to Klaus Zellmer, named by the executive board back in Stuttgart, and slated to take effect at the beginning of November. Zellmer's appointment is just the latest round in an ongoing game of musical chairs (or Reise nach Jerusalem as the Germans call it for some reason) underway in the Volkswagen Group at large and in the Porsche division specifically. In the wake of the diesel emissions scandal, Porsche CEO Matthias Muller was promoted to replace Martin Winterkorn as head of the entire group. Porsche's own production chief Oliver Blume was named as Muller's replacement. Sales and marketing chief Bernhard Maier moved to the Czech Republic to run Skoda, and Detlev von Platen – who served until now as the president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America – was recalled to Stuttgart to take Maier's place. Now Zellmer has been named as von Platen's successor in Atlanta. Schooled in Germany, the UK, and the US, Zellmer has until now been responsible for overseas and emerging markets for the company. In that capacity he's overseen regional operations in Asia-Pacific, South America, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as Australia, Japan, and Korea. He previously ran operations in Porsche's home market, where he nearly double the company's sales in less than five years. Of course his appointment means that Porsche will in turn need to name a new executive to oversee those oversees markets, but this is about as far as we'll be chasing the ripple effect. Related Video: Klaus Zellmer to lead Porsche Cars North America Detlev von Platen to join Porsche AG Executive Board as new member responsible for global Sales and Marketing ATLANTA, Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Porsche AG's Executive Board appointed Klaus Zellmer as new President and Chief Executive Officer of Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), effective November 1, 2015. PCNA's current President and Chief Executive Officer, Detlev von Platen, will relocate from Atlanta to Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany to assume his new role as Executive Board member responsible for global Sales and Marketing, also effective November 1, 2015. He succeeds Bernhard Maier, who was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management for SKODA in the Czech Republic. Mr. von Platen has led PCNA since 2008. Under his leadership North America remained the most important market for Porsche worldwide.

Porsche close to fix for 911 GT3 engine fires

It looks like 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 drivers might actually get to drive their cars again soon. Reports of fires affecting the track-ready Germans first began about a month ago. Then, a few days later, the automaker confirmed two of the five alleged blazes and said owners shouldn't drive their cars until further notice. Porsche then went so far as to offer to pick up the GT3s and transport them to the nearest dealer until the problem was identified and a fix was found. Finally, there appears to be a repair.
"We know the reason and the problem-solving measures. We're testing them," said Porsche CEO Matthias Müller to Bloomberg. The technical fix will be released to owners shortly.
The recall affects all 785 GT3s that have been sold so far, but there have been no reported injuries caused by the fires. When it first announced the safety campaign, Porsche said: "Internal studies to determine the cause of the engine damage have not been completed yet."

Watch Carrera Cup driver Connor de Phillippi's first lap of the N"urburgring

American race driver Connor de Phillippi was recently added to the roster of Porsche Juniors, the arm of Porsche's factory racing program that develops new talent. The 20-year-old is contesting the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland series with FÖRCH Racing by Lukas Motorsport, and last weekend, he raced the series round at the Nürburgring. Starting 15th on the grid, de Phillippi would cross the line in ninth out of 32 finishers.
Courtesy of his in-car camera, you can watch his entire first lap in the video below - there's no music added, just engine whine during nine minutes of crests, turns, bumpy straights and that wicked Carousel. Enjoy.