German luxury automaker Porsche AG on Wednesday said it would pay workers a special bonus of up to 9,656 euros (US$11,800) each to celebrate a record year, even as the industry grapples with a series of scandals.
Porsche said it wanted to reward staff for “the most successful year in the company’s history” after it delivered a record 246,000 vehicles last year, boosting revenue by 5 percent to 23.5 billion euros.
THE BONUS
The payout would consist of a gross bonus of 8,600 euros plus a 700 euro contribution to staff pension schemes, Porsche said.
On top of that, workers would receive a one-off payout of 356 euros to mark the 70th anniversary of the Porsche 356 sports car.
About 23,000 of the nearly 30,000 people it employed by the end of last year would be eligible for the bonuses, the company said in a statement.
“Porsche employees deserve every cent of the bonus,” said Uwe Hueck, head of the council that represents Porsche workers. “These outstanding results were not handed to us on a plate — they were achieved with a lot of hard work.”
SCANDAL
The bonus bonanza comes even though the German auto industry has been dogged by controversy ever since Porsche’s parent company, Volkswagen AG, admitted in 2015 to installing software in millions of diesel cars to cheat pollution tests — including Porsche models.
Suspicions of emissions cheating have since spread to other automakers, shattering diesel’s image as a clean engine and prompting several smog-clogged German cities to mull diesel driving bans.
The scandal deepened earlier this year when it was revealed that a research body funded by Volkswagen, BMW AG and Daimler AG commissioned tests that measured the effects of diesel exhaust fumes on monkeys.
STELLAR YEAR
Despite the damaging headlines, German automakers enjoyed a stellar year last year.
BMW earlier this week announced record bonuses of 9,455 euros for each employee, while Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz is handing out 5,700 euros.
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