Overview of assembly. The Macan bodies in assembly are transported on a plate line (with lift tables) or on pivoting hangers. The assembly area is subdivided into different lines. The Macan and Panamera move together here. Not until the “marriage” of the body and powertrain/chassis does the Cayenne merge with the line by electric rail conveyor. First, there is the door line, followed by interior lines 1 and 2, underbody lines 1 and 2, mixed lines 1 and 2, chassis build-up and powertrain build-up (engine and transmission) as well as the famous marriage (chassis/powertrain merge with the body). The final assembly operation happens at the testing area. Here, the computers of the Macan are equipped with the latest software, the assistance systems are brought to life, the chassis is given fine tuning, the headlight alignment is checked, the engine is started for the first time, the body seals are checked, and – after a brief drive outside on the run-in and test track – final inspection takes place. The assembly highlights in detail:

Door line. “The first step,” according to Thomas Riediger, Head of Planning, “is to finish the doors of the Macan. This is done on what is known as the door line during cycles T01 through T12. The T stands for the German word for door (“Tür”). Afterwards, the Macan leaves the door line and arrives at the interior line.

Interior lines 1 and 2. The first step here is to remove the doors from the body at cycle I02. The I stands for “Interior”. If the doors were to remain on the Macan, many of the assembly steps that now follow on the interior line could not be performed. In cycle I12, the Macan is equipped with one of the most important components of all: the wire harness. And one of the largest finished modules is integrated in the vehicle in cycle I16: the cockpit. The assembly workers complete this precise job with a handling unit to which the cockpit is first docked, and then it is guided into the car. The cockpit is assembled externally, and – if the Macan is ordered with this option – its upper area is upholstered in the finest leather. I16 is therefore one of those cycles in which industrial manufacturing melds with handcrafting. Not a spectacular production step, but important on its path towards becoming a complete car: At cycle I31, the ignition key is inserted in the Macan for the first time. And the ignition is of course located on the left side – as in the 918 Spyder, 911, Cayman, Boxster, Cayenne and Panamera. This is a tribute to the “24 hours of Le Mans.”. At the end of the interior line, the car is moved to a different mode of conveyance. It leaves the lift table and is now suspended by a pivoting hanger so that underbody tasks can be performed more ergonomically on the Macan.

Underbody lines 1 and 2. Underbody lines 1 and 2 run in parallel to the door line in assembly. Components installed here include all brake lines (U06), the pressure reservoir for the air suspension that is available as an optional feature (U10) and the fuel tank with a capacity of 60 litres or an optional 75 litres (U13). Naturally, the U stands for “Underbody” line. On the way to the exterior line, the Macan is now returned to the lift table as a mode of conveyance.

Exterior lines 1 and 2. Towards the end of the exterior line, the SUV gets its doors back at cycle E31. Before it arrives there, however, certain features are added such as the windscreen and rear windscreen that are placed fully automatically by robot (E01), the floor carpeting (E03), wiper system (E04), electrically swivelling towbar unit (E05), side airbags (E10), battery (E12) and the Porsche badge on the bonnet (E20). Of course, E stands for “Exterior” line. After the doors have been mounted, the Macan cars are briefly parked in what is referred to as the body storage area, which creates a buffer for the subsequent lines for the powertrain and chassis.

Engine build-up. The next step is what is known as engine build-up or engine preassembly. The engines and transmissions are fed via a side arm into the assembly process. The transmissions are flange-mounted in cycle A07. In cycle A09, assemblers install the engine wire harness. This is followed by components such as the clutch disc of the automatic transmission (A11), the starter (A17) and the air conditioning compressor (A24). Towards the end of engine preassembly, the oxygen sensors are connected (A29). “A” stands for the German word for the powertrain, which is “Antrieb.”. The entire vehicle understructure is finished and conveyed on large module carriers or driverless transport systems (DTS) up to the marriage. In this phase, the bodies are still separate from the vehicle underbody and are being conveyed one building level higher via electric overhead conveyer towards the marriage operation.

Chassis build-up. After engine build-up, the subsequent chassis build-up involves mounting parts such as the propshaft and drive shafts. Cycles F01 through F03 are used to preconfigure the suspensions and struts on the large module carrier. In the next cycle (F04), the front silencers are installed, then the propshaft is connected (F05), and finally the drive shafts are integrated (F06). F stands for the German word for chassis, which is “Fahrwerk”.

Mixed lines 1 and 2. The most spectacular and best know station in any vehicle assembly process is the marriage – merging of the chassis and powertrain with the now completely assembled body. In Leipzig, this marriage takes place on the mixed line. Mixed, because for the first time all three Porsche model series – the Macan, Cayenne and Panamera – take the same route through identical stations. The assembled bodies arrive at the marriage process – which runs from cycle M01 through cycle M06 – from a decoupling module via an electric overhead conveyor and are lowered down to the assembly line from above. For the Cayenne, this represents the entry point to the assembly line.

Marriage. “The actual marriage takes place in cycle M03, in which the body – the superstructure – is conveyed to the cycle by electric overhead conveyor,” says Dr. Martin Kahmeyer, Head of Technology in charge of the assembly lines for the Macan, Cayenne and Panamera. From the side, the driverless transport system brings the large module carrier and powertrain to cycle M03. Dr. Martin Kahmeyer: “The large module carrier is conveyed by driverless transport under the superstructure and then is lifted upward towards the body for the marriage. In cycle M04, the top and bottom structures are then automatically joined by screw fastening. In addition, the spring struts are manually screwed into the towers.” At cycle M06, the Porsche is then transferred from the electric overhead conveyor back to the plate conveyor. Further along on the mixed line, final tasks include finishing of the wheels, the fuel lines and the wipers (M07 to M13), application of the badges at the rear (M19) and filling of the new Porsche with fuel, brake fluid, coolant and motor oil (up to M28). Finally, the tyres are mounted to the wheel rims, and the Macan, Cayenne and Panamera can stand on their own four wheels for the first time in their automotive life.

Testing area & finishing. The final 33 assembly cycles are used for start-up, testing and final inspection of the new Porsche. An entire new line was added to the test area for the Macan. One of the first steps performed here is what is known as “parameterisation” (reading error memory, flash and coding operations, learning, calibration and adaptation operations). Driving functions such as braking are checked on a roller dynamometer; the engine is also started here for the first time. Last but not least, final adjustments are made to the chassis and headlights, and the driver assistance systems are calibrated. Then, on a short test track, the cars must demonstrate that all relevant components operate perfectly. Afterwards, the car exterior is washed and a sealing test is performed simultaneously. The last station before the car is driven over to the Customer Centre at Porsche Leipzig GmbH, or is shipped by articulated lorry or by railroad to one of the Porsche sales centres, is final inspection.