Porsche Awards and Reputation
In a May 2006 survey, Porsche received the title of the most prestigious automobile brand by Luxury Institute, New York; it questioned more than 500 families with a gross annual income of about $200,000 and a net worth of at least $720,000. The current Porsche model range includes sports cars from the Boxster roadster to their most famous product, the 911. The Cayman is a hard top car similar to the Boxster in a slightly higher price range. The Cayenne is Porsche's mid-size luxury SUV. The limited run Carrera GT ceased production in 2006. A high performance luxury saloon, the Panamera, was launched on Monday, 20 April 2009, and is due to be released worldwide in September and October. Recently, a spider version of the Boxster was announced, and became available after it was unveiled at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Porsche was awarded the 2006, 2009, and 2010 J.D. Power and Associates award for the highest-ranked nameplate in its Initial Quality Study of automobile brands.
As a company, Porsche is known for weathering changing market conditions with great financial stability, while retaining most production in Germany during an age when most other German car manufacturers have moved their production to Eastern Europe or overseas. The headquarters and main factory are still in Zuffenhausen, a district in Stuttgart, but the Cayenne (and formerly the Carrera GT) is manufactured in Leipzig. Parts for the SUV are assembled also in Bratislava Slovakia. Most Boxster and Cayman production is outsourced to Valmet Automotive in Finland until 2012. The company has been highly successful in recent times, and claims to have the highest profit per unit sold of any car company in the world.
Porsche Engineering Group (PEG) has for many years offered consultancy services to various other car manufacturers. Audi, Studebaker, SEAT, Subaru, Yugo and others have consulted PEG for their cars or engines. The Lada Samara was partly developed by Porsche in 1984. PEG also helped Harley-Davidson design the Revolution 60 degree v-twin water cooled engine and gearbox that is used in their V-Rod motorcycle.