Is there really any differrence?

[Brucelee]

In terms of teaching the cases, he says, "What's really remarkable is that, at least for non-German students, for the most part they do not really care whether the Cayenne is made in Germany or not. Customers are buying the Porsche name. For the most part, the controversy in Germany is a non-controversy in the classroom. Yet there does appear to be some limit to where Porsche could locate because of its image."

"The Cayenne is clearly German-designed and inspired. Only when you think of it in terms of a pure manufacturing product does its content become problematic for deciding just how 'German' it is. We do not try to figure that out. It's near impossible because of the long supply chains among parts suppliers. But, I think, in many ways, Porsche has unconsciously gone back to its roots. After leaving Mercedes, Ferdinand Porsche founded his own design firm in 1931 with his son and his son-in-law, Anton Piëch—yes, the father of Ferdinand Piëch of VW, making the original Ferdinand Porsche his grandfather. That 1931-founded firm was mostly a design and engineering firm, which helped to create the Volkswagen Beetle. So the alliance and cooperation with VW is reproduced."

"In addition, as the founder of Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche also had Central European roots, since he was born in Maffersdorf, Bohemia (now Vratislavice in the Czech Republic). If you think of Europe more broadly than just Germany or other national states, it's really a Central European story here." In this respect, Porsche's Cayenne manufacturing also brings the company full circle, observes Fear.