Blast halts Porsche 911 production

FRANKFURT, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A gas explosion at Porsche's (PSHG_p.DE) Zuffenhausen plant on Monday has put a halt to its 911 sports car production for at least 48 hours.

"Assembly of the 911 model line will be idled for at least two to three days based on preliminary estimates. The daily production capacity is currently 160 units," the company said in a statement.

A spokesman for Porsche said the company expects it can recoup the lost production in the course of the year by negotiating Saturday shifts with labour leaders. The explosion in the plant's paint shop did not affect other areas of production, such as the line that assembles the engines used in all Porsches. As a result, output of Cayenne and Boxster/Cayman models in Leipzig and Finland, respectively, will not be affected.

Two employees were taken to hospital with minor injuries due to the blast, which occurred around 0400 GMT at the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) thermoplastic gelling oven in the paintshop.

"The amount of damages cannot yet be quantified," Porsche added.

The paint shop will be replaced in 2013 by a new one with daily capacity of 170 units, which is to be built at the cost of roughly 200 million euros ($296 million). (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by Quentin Bryar)