Potomac-Greg

Take heart. It was the independent Porsche that decided to make an SUV. And it was the mothership VW that (very recently) made it clear that if Porsche sells SUVs, they're going to be made by Audi. VW has a better idea of Porsche's heritage than Porsche does!

Query whether that same logic will lead VW to tell Audi that if anyone's going to make a mid-engined supercar, it's going to be Porsche.

As to big time racing, Audi's only factory programs are DTM and (A)LMS. It can't be that difficult to put together a basic engine program for Daytona Prototypes. And an S5 shell with Audi V8 would be a nice fit in the Grand Am GT class (a la the ancient BMW 6 series).

sig_a

Next up - 998/911 with 8 cylinders.

VW will not likely kill off the longest lived, most popular sportscar ever produced. But one never knows.

ltc

Kill the Cayenne, Panamera and Boxster/Cayman....those can be covered by Audi models (as an aside, the Boxster/Cayman is already on its way towards that end, as soon as the VAG board decides on the future of the 2 door mid engine platform....long story)

Keep Porsche producing just the 911 (and its variants), nothing else.

Carlo_Carrera

Management shuffles like these after a merger don't bother me. I think it is all much to do about nothing. This article is all conjecture.

Piech has wanted to run Porsche pretty much from birth, but the family decided long ago that no family member should run it so Piech went to VW and built an empire. Then when the time was right he took control of Porsche with his relatives' blessing. This was a brilliant and patient move.

Piech is not going to let Porsche or more specifically the 911 lineage go down the tubes. He loves Porsche. He has wanted control of it his entire life.

I think Porsche will become the marque brand of the VW group and the that elevation will start with the release of the 918 and 998 next year.

Potomac-Greg

Exactly. Although Porsche should also have dibs on smaller, less exotic sports cars (a la 914). An Elise/Exige competitor should be a Porsche, not a VW or Audi.

Ritter v4.0

NatGeo just had a show on how they make Audi R8's- pretty kewl. Maybe they can share with Porsche a few things. Alu space frame for one.

schwank

They don't need to focus on only the 911, but they should tighten it back to sports cars only.

No one can deny they have built an amazing mid-engine platform. VW needs to let Porsche run with the new mid-engine setup and maybe grab it for a limited production Audi model and make some money off the tech R&D. They have demonstrated that they are simply unwilling to build the BlueSport as a VW, so at least get the **** in line and let Porsche move on.

Problem is VW was going upmarket into the space occupied by Audi. Then they wanted to be sporty, which infringes on Porsche territory. Yet here in the States we don't get the Scirocco because the Golf GTI/R32 is their 'performance' platform and they don't want to cannibalize sales. That is a bad plan in a big market. The Golf is not a sports car, its a somewhat kinda sporty econobox. Sorry, but as the owner of a Golf and a Boxster, they are not in the same league. And VW is not viewed as upmarket in the USA, as the Phaeton taught us.

VW plainly doesn't know what to do with all the badges they have now. I think they have a chance to keep the purity of Porsche intact. But they have a good chance of blowing it too if they try to make them a full line maker too. Too much going on with no high level plan it seems. Maybe these moves are an effort but the exec shell game probably won't do it.

sig_a

"Yet here in the States we don't get the Scirocco because the Golf GTI/R32 is their 'performance' platform and they don't want to cannibalize sales. That is a bad plan in a big market."

Yes but......export powerhouse Germany/VW's future is to the east. 80 million exporting goods to 3 billion. USA is growing old and less important.

schwank

I agree totally with their emerging markets. I was referring to the protection of their 'performance' image... which is the GTI/R32 only in the USA. That fits into the bigger picture.

Certainly will be interesting to see how all of the current industry turmoil will pan out. Some cards have been played but...

333pg333

Even then, they've been beaten to the punch.

http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/24...rsche_911.html

Kein_Ersatz

+1

agdamis

Apparently the max capacity for the flat-six is 4.0, we currently at 3.8, I think a naturally aspirated 8 will eventually have to happen.

Potomac-Greg

With the 911s drivetrain architecture, there's no limit to how long the engine can be! Why not skip right to a V12? Put some ballast up front. Try THAT in your mid-engined car.

agdamis

I hear you except that the rumor is that when the Touareg rolled into the Porsche engineering headquarters, they all gathered around it, burst out laughing and proceeded to dismantle it. Not really sure we want to go backwards now. It also scares me that Lambo interiors are made from A6 and A8 parts bin left overs. With all due respect to Audi owners I will NEVER buy a Porsche that has VW/Audi interiors parts in it.

agdamis

never thought of that. sounds cool!