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In a move that's already prompted superhero-themed exclamations from news desks in the industry, Porsche Cars North America is expected to announce that it will move its North American headquarters out of the Atlanta-area Sandy Springs location to the site of a former Ford Taurus plant near Hapeville--also in the Atlanta area.

Why all the interest in a 21-mile move? Well, first of all, its Porsche's North American headquarters, and second, it's the site in Hapeville.

Once the location of a Ford plant, later razed to be a retail/residential/soft-office complex, the site is located right off I-75 abutting the airport. Its location and the available land mean not only is there space for a large facility to be built, but also the possibility of a consumer test drive center.

Located off Henry Ford II Ave., the Hapeville site could mark an expansion in Porsche's North American, and particularly U.S., operations. The expansion dovetails with previously announced plans at Porsche to rapidly and massively increase its sales figures, as much as doubling 2008 totals by 2013, and eying even higher goals after that.

The official announcement is expected this Thursday, to be released by Porsche in conjunction with local officials.

[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]