Porsche
Porsche 911

Porsche Rewards Workers for Record Year with $11K Bonus

March 22, 2018
Porsche said 23,000 of its staff will be rewarded for "the most successful year in the company's history" after it delivered a record 246,000 vehicles in 2017, boosting revenue by 5%.

Luxury carmaker Porsche on Mach 21 said it would pay workers a special bonus of up to 9,656 euros US ($11,800) each to celebrate a record year, even as the industry grapples with a series of scandals.

Porsche said it wanted to reward staff for "the most successful year in the company's history" after it delivered a record 246,000 vehicles in 2017, boosting revenues by 5% to 23.5 billion euros.

The payout will consist of a gross bonus of 8,600 euros plus a 700-euro contribution to staff pension schemes, Porsche said. On top of that, workers will receive a one-off payout of 356 euros to mark the 70th anniversary of the Porsche 356 sports car.

Some 23,000 of the nearly 30,000 people it employed by the end of last year would be eligible for the bonuses, the company said.

"Porsche employees deserve every cent of the bonus," said Uwe Hueck, head of the council that represents Porsche workers. 

"These outstanding results were not handed to us on a plate –- they were achieved with a lot of hard work."

The bonus bonanza comes even though the German auto industry has been dogged by controversy ever since Porsche's parent company Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to installing software in millions of diesel cars to cheat pollution tests -- including in Porsche models.

Suspicions of emissions cheating have since spread to other carmakers, shattering diesel's image as a clean engine and prompting several smog-clogged German cities to mull diesel driving bans.

The scandal deepened earlier this year when it was revealed that a research body funded by Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler commissioned tests that measured the effects of diesel exhaust fumes on monkeys.

Despite the damaging headlines, German carmakers enjoyed a stellar year in 2017.

Porsche rival BMW earlier this week announced record bonuses of 9,455 euros for each employee, while Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz is handing out 5,700 euros.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018

About the Author

Bloomberg

Licensed content from Bloomberg, copyright 2016.

Sponsored Recommendations

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!