Porsche is the
latest car maker to set up shop in Silicon Valley, opening a new digital
technology centre with 100 employees.
The new outpost
will be used to strengthen ties between the German sportscar maker and the
technology startups of San Francisco. It will also be used to put Porsche in
touch with venture-capital companies, and to invest in startups.
Porsche joins a
large number of traditional carmakers already set up in Silicon Valley, and
will be located close to tech companies like Google, Uber, Tesla and Apple, and
their own automotive ventures.
Carmakers who have
recently expanded to Silicon Valley include Volkswagen, Hyundai, General
Motors, Ford, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.
Headed
by Thilo Koslowski, a former digital mobility analyst at technology consultancy
Gartner, Porsche's Silicon Valley office comes a year after the launch of an
entire digital division close to the company's global headquarters in
Stuttgart, Germany.
'Future of the car is being written in Silicon Valley'
Koslowski
said: "The car is the ultimate mobile device of the future, and the future
is being written in Silicon Valley. This means it is particularly important to
be right next door to leading IT companies in the US, as this allows us to
identify trends early and invest in new technologies at the right time."
As well as
broadening its use of in-car technology like almost every other manufacturer,
Porsche is also investing in hybrid and electric drive technologies. The
Volkswagen-owned company has already launched a hybrid version of its Panamera
saloon car, and is currently developing a production version of the Mission E, an all-electric
sports car
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