Porsche remanufactures for a greener future

STUTTGART: Porsche is integrating remanufacturing into its vehicle development processes to boost sustainability and extend the service life of its components.

The initiative, which takes into account the reusability of selected parts early in development, will see defective components reconditioned into fully functional spare parts.

This move is part of the manufacturer’s broader strategy to promote closed-loop concepts along the value chain and conserve resources throughout a vehicle’s life cycle.

Under a cross-departmental pilot project, Porsche is reconditioning components from both previous and current vehicle projects.

Around 20 component groups — including gearboxes, navigation computers, starters, and alternators — are currently being remanufactured.

Each reconditioned part is required to meet the same quality and safety standards as a new part.

The process involves dealers worldwide requesting defective components, which are stored centrally in Porsche’s spare parts warehouse in Sachsenheim before being transferred to specialised reconditioning plants, often operated by the original manufacturers.

At these facilities, parts undergo thorough cleaning, disassembly, and testing.

Faulty individual parts are replaced, while any components that remain functional are reused; after reassembly, the parts are subject to the same rigorous quality tests as newly produced items before being redistributed to dealers.

Albrecht Reimold, Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics and sustainability mentor, stated that remanufacturing is a key future area for Porsche.

He said the move not only fulfils the company’s environmental responsibilities by conserving resources but also ensures long-term availability of spare parts for classic and vintage vehicles.

Porsche has identified additional component groups with significant remanufacturing potential, including headlights, electric drives for rear spoilers, charging flaps, and various electronic control units.

The company aims to increase the proportion of components suitable for remanufacturing and seeks to integrate these capabilities permanently into the vehicle development process.

In doing so, remanufactured parts will be available to dealers earlier in the life cycle of each vehicle.

Initial calculations indicate that the remanufacturing process could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50% compared to the production of new parts, while achieving material savings of up to 80%.