Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE, the maker of the 911 sports car, plans to raise its annual bonus by 15 percent for employees at its main brand because of productivity improvements.

Workers at the Porsche AG unit will receive a 6,000-euro ($8,760) payment for the year ended July 31, compared with a 5,200-euro bonus for the previous 12 months, the Stuttgart, Germany-based carmaker said in a statement today.

``The management and works council together believe that the workforce's efforts to improve productivity, flexibility and quality deserve to be rewarded,'' Porsche said.

Porsche hasn't yet announced fiscal-year revenue or earnings. Sales in the 10 months through May rose 0.7 percent to 6.02 billion euros, boosted by a 47 percent jump in deliveries of a new version of the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle, the company said June 18, adding that earnings would ``mirror'' revenue. A new version of the 911 went on sale in Germany in July and is being introduced in North America this month and next.

The bonus includes a 3,800-euro payment from operating profit, 700 euros stemming from one-time financial gains, and 1,500 euros in honor of the company's 60th anniversary, the carmaker said.

The Porsche brand's works council, which represents employees, said separately today that it ``firmly'' backs the parent company's management, including Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking's role in securing jobs and ``social equality,'' and criticized unspecified ``attacks'' against executives, without giving details.

Der Spiegel magazine reported Sept. 1 that Ferdinand Piech, a supervisory board member, was seeking Wiedeking's ouster because of a rift over plans to take full control of Porsche's Volkswagen AG affiliate, where Piech is board chairman. The Porsche board said that day that it backs Wiedeking ``completely.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Lavell in Frankfurt at tlavell@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 26, 2008 08:53 EDT