Porsche mulls more output cuts at 911 plant: source

A woman with an umbrella passes by a Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen near Stuttgart May 18, 2009.

STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - Weak demand is forcing Porsche SE (PSHG_p.DE) to consider cutting production around the Christmas holidays at its main Zuffenhausen plant where the 911 Carrera is built, a company source said on Wednesday.

"We have to think about this if car sales continue to develop like this and do not recover again," the person familiar with the situation said.

Due to the ramp-up of Panamera production in the second half, Porsche's Leipzig plant that also assembles the Cayenne model should remain unaffected by the output cuts in Zuffenhausen near Stuttgart.

To counteract a severe slump in demand, Porsche said late in January it will cut costs this year by far more than 100 million euros ($140.7 million) and will halt production in Zuffenhausen by another 19 days before its summer break in addition to the 11 already taken since the start of last December.

A Porsche spokesman said no decision was made yet for further production cuts, but if it became necessary management and labor could decide quickly on such a measure.

In the first nine months of the fiscal year to end-July, Porsche's sales fell 28 percent to 53,635 vehicles.

(Reporting by Hendrik Sackmann, writing by Christiaan Hetzner)