Porsche sent the starting shot for the hiring of more than 1,000 workers for permanent jobs at its Leipzig plant today as it prepares for the beginning of production of the new and quite ambitious, Macan compact SUV later this year.

The German carmaker already employs a staff of 1,150 workers in Leipzig, meaning that with the new hires, it will double its workforce at the plant that currently builds the Panamera sedan and the Cayenne mid-size SUV.

“The interest in a job with Porsche is enormous,” said Siegfried Bülow, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH.

“We have received 16,500 applications already, even though the big search for staff starts officially only today. The facts speak their own language: attractive environment and an emotional product. Moreover, the jobs here are future-proof, because in Leipzig all signs point to growth,” he added.

Porsche is investing around €500 million (~US$650 million at today’s exchange rates) to turn the Leipzig factory into a fully-fledged plant with its own paint shop and body assembly hall, making it one of the biggest construction projects in the history of the brand.

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