Porsche’s Leipzig production facility reaches another major milestone as the 500,000th Cayenne SUV rolls off the assembly lines. Half a million unit is a staggering record, considering the Cayenne is an expensive sports luxury SUV; a car with a limited customer base.

The first Porsche Cayenne entered production in 2002 amid the SUV boom in the global car market. The idea was to create a utility vehicle that drives as well as a Porsche 911. They pulled it off. The Cayenne was a tough and versatile off-roader, with amazing on-road capabilities. For some reason, though, the Cayenne never looked as you’d expect a car in that price range.

Nevertheless, the Cayenne became an instant hit, and the rest is history. Today the Leipzig plant produces five times more Cayennes than it did back in 2002, and demand is showing no signs of slowing down.

The 500,000 milestone Cayenne was a white S Diesel with a 382 hp V8 engine (top speed 261 km/h). The buyer traveled from Austria to Saxony in Germany to pick up his car in person during a little ceremony.

“We started with around 70 units a day. Today we produce five times as much owing to the high market demand. In the past year alone, over 83,000 Cayenne vehicles for customers in more than 125 countries have rolled off the assembly line. A genuine success story of the Porsche plant in Saxony,” explains Dr. Oliver Blume, Member of the Executive Board Production and Logistics of Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.