Quote:
Originally posted by Wil Ferch
pieterk:
You just painted yourself in a corner... not a slam, mind you....but we tend to repeat what we hear without some more thought..
To wit..the thing about remaining independent. Ferrari ( as you yourself state) is no longer independent... yet they continue to build cars "pure" to their heritage. Certainly more so than ( independent) Porsche is doing today !!
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I disagree about painting myself into a corner, but you're absolutely right. What I wrote is wholly contingent on the theoretical belief in the corporate Porsche party line that independence has value. I personally didn't advocate the wholesale correctness of that. I also said "inasmuch as the sentimentality of a company's history might matter to anyone"--as that relates to independence--rather than positively assert that it always does or should.
What do I personally think? I love that Ferrari's product line has remained largely undiluted. I also think that corporate dependence is not by any means the automatic mark of death, and that independence can in some or many cases cripple the creative vision of a company as profitability becomes more important than inspiration. I still detest the Cayenne. One just drove into the lot here at work right in front of me. It looks--and I can only imagine drives--like an inverted bathtub. They should have left it to the Tuareg, which I would buy to tow a trailer with a Porsche! I'm not into the idea of a Porsche sedan either. But they'll do what they want to do. I can't stop it, and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter that much to me either way. I've got more fun things to do than worry about who owns what and why.
Quote:
Originally posted by Wil Ferch
Well...what difference is there when the "independent" Porsche company builds products ( vans / trucks)...that similarly dilute the brand image AS IF IT WAS no longer independent?...and some parent company giant calls the shots?
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Dead right.
Re-reading what I wrote, I probably should have clarified that I was trying to think about this from within Porsche's corporate business framework, not from within my own feelings about the car.
All I really know is that SUVs and minivans have nothing at all to do with that first vision of poetry I had as a kid, when brand new 2.7 air-cooled 911s wailed past my dad's dumpy Toyota in LA. I'll never forget the day it first hit me; a kind of light, metallic blue/grey 911 shimmering in the sunlight, accelerating away from the stop sign at Beverly Dr. and Canon. There's nothing like it in the world, and no Cayenne or minivan will ever touch it, whether or not it's branded Porsche, VW, Ferrari, Fiat, GM or Ford.
So yeah, if we can have that, then screw independence I guess!
