I think the German brands and Volvo used to do that on limited base near their home base to learn if all safety features worked as intended.

They ask stuff like; were the doors unlocked, did the windows go down when under water and the 4 blinkers on and of course look at the bent metal, airbags and stuff.

Back in 2007 in a brand new BMW X5, a woman crossed the yellow line and hit me head on. We were both doing North of 50+. I went airborne in the X5, rolled several times and then hit a tree. Came to a stop and was upside down. I never lost consciousness and no broken bones. BMW contacted me within days to obtain the car, get the police report, go to the scene to take measurements all to assess how the car performed in the incident versus their computer simulations. Wasn’t aware Porsche does this too but there is much knowledge to gain. Since the X5 was a new body style at the time, BMW I am told routinely does this in these types of complete writeoffs. Not one panel on the BMW was usable after the crash. It was a lease, no money down, ordered another one same day as the accident once I left the hospital.