New Porsche museum slow and over budget

The opening of a new museum for German luxury carmaker Porsche in Stuttgart will be delayed and it will cost more than planned.

Published: 2 April 2008 17:36 CEST

An artist simulation of the museum. Photo: DPA

The museum, which was supposed to get rolling in 2007, will probably not be finished until the end of 2008, Porsche AG said on Wednesday in Stuttgart. However, the company did not name an exact date.

Porsche spokesperson Anton Hunger also said the €50 million the company had planned on spending would not be enough to cover construction costs. “The numbers will likely be on the higher end of double-digit millions,” he said.

Some eighty Porsche models will be housed in the 5,600-square metre museum inside a futuristic exterior. The carmaker’s old museum building only held 20 models.

German prosecutors raid Porsche in corruption probe

Porsche cars for sale in Bremen. Photo: DPA

The investigators suspect that “an official from the Stuttgart business audit office revealed confidential information to a tax advisor of Porsche AG and accepted benefits in exchange,” they said in a statement.

Almost 200 police and prosecutors searched the luxury car maker's offices, tax collectors' offices, a tax advisor's office and private homes in and around Stuttgart for paper and digital documents.

On top of the bribery probe, investigators suspect the company made “unjustified” and “disproportionately large” payments to a former works council member.

Six people, including some from the company leadership, “may have committed fraud against Porsche AG” they said.

Porsche confirmed to AFP that the searches had taken place, adding that the carmaker “is cooperating fully with the authorities.”

On top of the bribery probe, investigators suspect the company made
“unjustified” and “disproportionately large” payments to a former works
council member.

They “may have committed fraud against Porsche AG,” said prosecutors.

The former works council member was not one of the people under suspicion, prosecutors said.

Earlier this month, Porsche agreed to pay a fine of €535 million over its role in the separate “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal.

Its parent company Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to appear less polluting in the lab than on the road.

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