German carmaker Porsche said Wednesday it would celebrate a record year with a one-off payment to workers of up to exactly 9,111 euros, a nod to the its iconic 911 sports car.
Despite the ‘dieselgate’ scandal weighing on parent Volkswagen, 21,000 employees will each receive the bonus, worth up to $9,830, Â to mark “the most successful year in the company’s history,” the Stuttgart-based firm said in a statement.
Porsche increased its net profit 14 percent to 3.9 billion euros in 2016, selling 237,778 vehicles and increasing its profit margin.
The firm wanted to thank workers for a “dramatic, emotional and above all successful year,” chief executive Oliver Blume said, pointing to a slew of new models that appeared in showrooms.
But bosses had to limit the bonus increase, as Volkswagen continues to struggle with the impact of its 2015 admission that it installed software designed to cheat regulatory emissions tests in 11 million cars worldwide — including some Porsche models.
“No-one else in the VW family is getting a bonus even close to what our Porsche workers have,” works council chief Uwe Hueck said in the statement.
Competitor Daimler has said that some 130,000 workers at its Mercedes-Benz flagship will receive bonuses of 5,400 euros each for 2016. – Agence France-Presse
