Porsche's new headquarters will feature an industry-first test track that will be open to customers.
Think having the chance to drive your new sports car on a closed test track and handling course might be enough to close the deal? Porsche thinks so.
At the groundbreaking for its new North American headquarters in Atlanta, the automaker announced that the 26.4-acre campus would include a 1.6-mile test track where dealers will be able to bring customers to experience the full capabilities of the company’s cars.
Porsche calls it the Customer Experience Center and says it is an industry first.
Porsche's North American Headquarters in Atlanta will employ 400 people when it opens in 2014.
“We are asking our dealers to invest, and we are doing the same — and making sure that we keep our brand a little bit different in the way we are experiencing the products,” von Platen told Automotive News.
Porsche’s new headquarters is adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport. About 80 percent of the country’s population is just a two-hour flight from Atlanta, von Platen said. Porsche’s new headquarters sits on the site of a former Ford Motor Co. plant.
As many as 20,000 people are expected to visit Customer Experience Center every year. About 15 percent of them could be arranged through dealerships. Dealers could send customers to the center to seal the deal on a buying a new car or as a reward to loyal customers.
About 80 percent of the U.S. population is within a two-hour flight of Atlanta, von Platen said. Porsche’s new headquarters is adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport. It is on the site of a razed Ford Motor Co. plant that closed in 2006.
Besides the test track and customer center, the headquarters will include corporate offices, technical service and training center, conference center and a Porsche museum celebrating the automaker’s heritage in the U.S. going back to the early ‘50s.
The center will house about 400 people. It will open in 2014.
Georgia officials said they are excited about the unique travel experience the company is building.
“I’m confident One Porsche Drive will become a renowned address that stands for vision, innovation and success – as well as one of the greatest driving experiences in the world,” Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said.