Porsche launches new 911 Turbo flagship

In launching his company's flagship '01 911 Turbo, Porsche AG President Wendelin Wiedeking talks more about the car's stopping ability than its speed. That's because Porsche has created a new dimension in brakes for cars. The Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake technology uses silica-coated carbon fiber disks and improved composite metal linings to provide the best braking ever for a car, Mr. Wiedeking claims. Available as an option, PCCB is expected to cost an astounding US$10,000 extra on the Turbo. Porsche says it will build 2,000 911 Turbos. Mr. Wiedeking also says Porsche's new sport/utility vehicle is scheduled to appear in the spring of 2002. Porsche held a groundbreaking ceremony recently for a new plant in Leipzig, Germany, where the SUV will be built for both domestic and export markets. About 20,000 SUVs will be turned out by Leipzig annually - half of that amount slated for export to the U.S.

- Compiled by Barbara McClellan and the Ward's Automotive International staff