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Valmet Extends Contract with Porsche

The Porsche sports car production at Valmet Automotive started ten years ago. Since that more than 180,000 Porsche Boxster and Cayman cars have been manufactured in Finland.

– Porsche AG have extended the contract with Valmet Automotive until 2011, confirmed Mr Michael Macht, Member of Porsche's Board of Management, in the celebration of the ten-year cooperation on the 16th of October in Uusikaupunki.

– Over all these years in which we have been building premium sports cars together, Valmet has been a fair, reliable and calculable partner for Porsche. The product quality, so significant particularly for Porsche, has remained excellent throughout the years, he said.

The production of Porsche Boxster in Uusikaupunki was launched in autumn 1997, as Porsche AG was not able to meet the demand for the new model in its own plant. The number of first generation Porsche Boxster cars manufactured in Finland in 1997–2004 totals 109,213 units.

Today Valmet Automotive manufactures both models of the Boxster product line. The production of the new Boxster started in 2004 and that of Cayman in 2005. For the moment, about 100 cars are completed daily.

Mr Juhani Suvinen, President of Valmet Automotive, thanks Porsche for the ten years of cooperation:

– We have succeeded in building an open cooperation based on trust. The joint know-how of Porsche and Valmet teams has yielded fantastic results. Excellent quality, flexibility and reliability are the cornerstones in our partnership with Porsche. Through strong cooperation, we will further contribute to Porsche's continued success, Mr Suvinen says.

At Valmet Automotive, Porsche Boxster and Porsche Cayman are completed according to customer orders. The manufacturing process includes welding, painting and final assembly. Today Valmet Automotive employs 800 people.

Valmet Automotive is the only factory outside Germany assembling Porsche cars. More than 40 million Euro have been invested in the production facilities during the last few years. For example in welding, the automation grade and the capacity have been increased. This year the clear coat process was renewed.

Porsche production at Valmet Automotive:

1997	1,913 Boxster
1998	10,469 Boxster
1999	14,934 Boxster
2000	19,462 Boxster
2001	23,414 Boxster
2002	20,196 Boxster
2003	12,998 Boxster
2004	10,050 Boxster
2005	21,233: Boxster 16,368 and Cayman 4,865
2006	32,393: Boxster 13,254 and Cayman 19,139
2007	from Jan 1 to Jun 30, 13,236: Boxster 6,570 and Cayman 6,666