|
Well I guess they have had a long history of relationships here and there, but now for the first time, VW is the ultimate decision maker of all Porsche products. I think it's reasonable to expect that future P-cars will have uncontested influences from VW, and that these will ultimately benefit VW themselves more than Porsche brand.
MediaArtist, I know what you mean; the market is changing. And since auto industry is, just like everything else, a money-driven industry, they need to adapt quickly to the changing market and produce what majority of the population needs and wants. They even stated that they're looking into quadrupling the brand (I forget the exact phrasing). This must mean that they are targeting more of that majority market. I'm generalizing here, but now what this market wants are: status symbol; comfort; power; fuel efficiency; safety; quietness; eye-catching style (not necessarily "good"); etc.
From what I can see at the road course tracks, BMWs and P-cars populate the vast majority among all those who enjoy driving their cars near the limit. (You hardly ever see any Ferrari, Lambo, Maserati, or any other exotics. What are they made for then?) Having said that, I can certainly notice that the newer generation BMWs have been more scarce to find at the track. What I keep hearing from a lot of people in this type of environment is that these newer BMWs are just not as sharp and focused machines as it used to be decades ago; rather they have just become fantastic daily-drivers and all-arounders... adapting to the majority of the market trend. I can't blame them though; their sales are tremendous. And they are in here to make money, so...
On that note, what impressed me with Porsches is that you still find the newest 911s, Boxsters, and Caymans all over the track. I'd even say that the newer models are majority among the Porsche crowd, despite their hefty price tag. I thought this showed me that Porsche's focus was still on the right direction regardless of what the market wants. I do see that they've been making some funny sedans and SUVs... but still, they make some very track-worthy cars to this date.
To wrap this long post up, (it's just my own opinion, all of this) with such diversified portfolio as VW has, they would more likely to turn the focused Porsche cars into something softer, heavier, safer, and worst of all, more of a mere status symbol on, say, "4-door coupes." I mean, ultimately, the more time Porsche's Engineers spend on all different types of highway-terrorizing vehicles' complex suspension technology, the less time they have in developing a track-optimized GT3 RS or alike, in my logic.
Well it's better for me. My bucket list for cars to own only gets shorter; in fact, it stops around 2006. I hope VW proves me wrong; I hope I'll have something new to drive when I get older.
|