Porsche should get bought

[turbo dave]

Okay, the Cayenne is miserable enough, now R&T (or was it Autoweek?) is saying that Porsche now wants to build a sedan, they won't race the Carrera GT, and (ughhh) they might build a PICKUP TRUCK!!!

I think it would be better for Porsche for lose its beloved independence. The company's managers think they have to ruin the company to keep it independent. Well, look at Aston Martin. How about Ferrari under Fiat? Or Maserati under Ferrari? Look at what Ford's done with Land Rover, or what they're doing with Mazda. Look at Lambourghini under Audi, Bentley under VW.

I think these companies are doing better than they ever did as independent companies, staying more true to their original purpose than they ever could have otherwise, or than Porsche is now.

Besides, a re-bodied Cayenne might make a nice Mercedes M-Class replacement.

just my $.02

[Jim T]

You bring up many good points.

In many ways, "independence" is over-rated. As you point out, Ferrari has done quite well under Fiat - without having to resort to cashing in on their brand name and building Minivans, sedans, ricer-hatchback or pickup trucks. The Ferrari lineup and brand has never been better than it is now.

Porsche being bought by another company would likely have a similar good result. Any purchaser would be smart enough to not interfere with the product or image - it would all be on the financial side, IMO.

(P.S. I think BMW owns Landrover. At least, the new Range Rover has the BMW 745 engine in it).

[turbo dave]

You're right, BMW owns them- typing before thinking.

[AFJuvat]

BMW owns landrover, VW/Audi owns lamborghini Rolls Royce, Bentley, Skoda, blah blah.

As a Porsche mechanic, things were much easier and much more user friendly when the family ran the company, parts, documentation, independant shop support etc.).

Lord knows where they are going now. I can understand the change to a water cooled engine in the 996. I think they hit the practical limit fir street legal air cooled engines with the 993 TT.

While I personally think the Cayenne is "not a porsche" - I still reserve final judgement until I actually see/put a wrench on one.

A pickup truck - Something inside me screams "you must be wrong". Then again, in light of recent events, part of me can't rule it out either.

I long for the return of the "golden age" of Porsche (IMHO 1973 - 1989)

AFJuvat

[Doug E]

A pick-up truck ?????

We haven't even swallowed the Cayenne yet and now this possibility?

Just goes to show that anything is possible in today's society.

[cegerer]

Porsche Pickemup Truck

Dave, Agree completely. -- Curt

[ChrisBennet]

Rover was owned by BMW but somebody else has it now I think.
-Chris

[Randy W]

Dave, you certainly make some good points. Maybe the whole purpose of broadening the product line and improving the bottom line at Porsche is to get it ready for sale to please the major shareholders - I wouldn't be suprised. After all it really seems to be no longer about the enthusiast.

I'm not sure I agree on the good in Porsche being bought by for example VW.

Especially VW has built a lot of identical cars under different names lately. Just like GM has for many years. I don't like that. What do you think will happen if VW buys Porsche AG? SHARED PARTS!!! Common models. The Cayenne is the first step in this direction.

Same thing goes for Mercedes if they bought Porsche. Shared parts and maybe new models that aren't in line with Porsche tradition.

Why would VW, Mercedes, BMW or some other company be interested in Porsche AG? The heritage? No. The power of the brand name (marketing)? Yes. Plus of course the technical expertise which would come in useful.

[Mike Feinstein]

I don't see parts sharing as a bad thing. Let's use Mercedes for example. I own an 89 Carrera (70k mi) and an 89 MB 300E (135k mi). Without exception, the fit and finish of the MB is far superior to the Pcar (even though it has nearly 2x the mileage). All electrical switches, interior trim, moldings, seals, A/C, etc., are as new and original. All of those items in my Porsche have been replaced at least once, my glove box door had been re-glued down at least twice, AC has required major overhaul, etc., etc., etc. Of course, the MB provides an absolutely mundane driving experience by comparison.

Porsche is heading down a slippery slope all on their own now. The heritage has been squandered in favor of obscene profitablility. Anyone with business experience knows that this is a short-term strategy for success. Essentially, they are mortgaging their future for quick profits. On a long-term basis, there is a desperate need for vision and investment (ie., risk). I doubt that it will come from the current heirarchy within Porsche. VW or MB could provide the focus and stability needed to put Porsche back on "track" (pun intended) .

Originally posted by Mike Feinstein

Porsche is heading down a slippery slope all on their own now. The heritage has been squandered in favor of obscene profitablility.

I agree.


But the problem with sharing parts is that you risk loosing a car's identity. Porsche already went down this road themselves with the 986/996. With VW or Mercedes as owner it COULD be even worse.

"Mercedes quality is no longer as good as it used to be". I don't know if this is true, but it seems a lot of people are saying this. Especially in Germany. (Same situation at Porsche - quality feel has gone down).

I don't have much trust in VW. They have left the usual path of the company in order to build expensive niche cars (prestige projects) that have nothing to do with VW tradition. At the same time the base models have become more expensive without getting any better (actually there have been some quality problems).

[Tyson Schmidt]

I pretty much agree with what's stated above. All new cars have gone down in quality feel. They've improved in performance and reliability, but the word of the day seems to be "plastic, as far as the eye can see."

New VW's are particularly horrible! The entire car is friggin' plastic! Coolant fittings, entire front ends, body parts. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to do simple jobs on a car that breaks apart when you are simply trying to replace a radiator hose, for example? The plastic becomes so brittle from the heat here in Southern California, that it becomes impossible to work with. It's like servicing a giant "Snap-Tite" model kit!

The 996 and 986 are following this same way of thinking, and it frightens me.

This whole thing began slowly after a round 1973. I remember thinking how all the switch gear on my '72 felt so solid and had such a quality tactile feel to it when I first bought it. Then I drove a friends SC and couldn't believe how bad, for axample, the turn signal lever felt when you manually cancelled it. It goes "tink" just like my mom's 80's GM car, and the lever was flimsy plastic.

The early cars had a Mercedes Benz overbuilt feel to them in a lot of ways. Of course, a lot of these parts were heavy and expensive to build compared to the later ones, but there's such a thing as taking cost cutting a few steps too far!

[pete98m3]

two words...


sell out...

thats what there doing... lots of sports cars these days are pretty half assed... the only company i can safely say does not give a rats ass what people think and still builds real sports cars without all the crap is lotus... when u buy an elise you get a motor, steering wheel, and two seats... just how it should be.


Ford does own land rover, they aquired it last year... however the new xxxxxNAMExxxxx truck was already nearing production under bmw so it ended up being produced by ford with the bmw engine still. essentially its a bmw built by ford...

bmw sold land rover and turned there intrestests to mini

[kringer2]

just chiming in ford owns land rover now


Hard to keep up with all the ownership changes

[Zeke]

The fact that Porsche is taking the diversity track in their marketing strategy just makes your 911s that more unique and intensifies the the focus of your interest in keeping these cars on the road, showing them, racing them, just driving them for joy.

Porsche can't perpetuate the early car mystique any more than GM can with the '55 to '57 Chevy. That was then, this is now. If you were into Chevys, would you want a '55 if you could buy one new with multi-port sequential fuel injection, crash bumpers and air bags? I guess that's not the point because you can't. All you can buy is an Impala, a front wheel drive, unibody, plastic filled POS that shares only its name with a car of yesteryear.

Savor what you have, the era is over.

[Tyson Schmidt]

Excellent point Zeke.

It's just sad to see the hard-won image of Porsche as a dominant force in racing, who's road cars integrated more pure racing technology than any other car, turn into a mass-market luxury image based, profit first company that cares more about pleasing it's shareholders than it's hard-core enthusiasts.

Not to mention one with GM levels of appointment at Mercedes level prices, trading primarily on it's nameplate and broader marketing strategies.

[Jim T]

Yes, Ford does own Landrover. Land Rover is part of Ford's "Premier Auto Group" - Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, etc. PAG is now HQ'd here in So. Cal.

The funny thing is, I do work for a couple of Land Rover dealers, which includes dealing with the parent company, Ford. You'd think I would remember that BMW sold Land Rover to Ford!

So, with the new Range Rover, you have a Range Rover, built by Land Rover, which is owned by Ford and which has a BMW engine!

[ZAMIRZ]

I dunno, but something inside me says that if they do build a pickup truck it would be cool to see the 444hp twinturbo models putting a beat down on the recent influx of Ford Lightnings in and around L.A. I really like the idea of an affordable $30,000 compact though, should be a helluva lot of fun if they give it enough power and a rad suspension.

later,

amir