Cayenne first pic?
 

Is this the first picture of the Cayenne?
What do you all think?


SRC="http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/image_uploads/cayenne.jpg">
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82sc

[This message has been edited by IDrabble (edited 05-30-2001).]

I sure hope that is not it b/c it looks like the new Hyundia SUV....

it most definately is it. Look at the alloy wheel on the back and tell me you dont recognize it

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82sc

Excuse my intrusion, but I really want to see the Cayenne picture. I'll attempt to fix your picture upload, via the UBB method:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...ds/cayenne.jpg

Thanks Terry i could not get it to work.


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82sc

Thanks, I wanted to see the picture too.

Boy, that sure is one HELL of an U~G~L~Y alternative to a road racing program!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Hmmmmm, do you supposed PCA will need to add a new run group to the Drivers Ed program? Any volunteers for the instructor corps? http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/biggrin.gif

Chuck
83SC

Nice Station Wagon. Can we get back to very small, light, high powered fun with 2 seats and room to pack a tooth brush.

Dont knock it yet...I know you all dont want an SUV in a Sports Car companies Line...either do I... but...You never know.. If they make money off of it and increase sales and more models come out..I'll be happy

Driver's Ed program should be real easy ... one-way trip off the South rim of the Grand Canyon!!!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

The following article from today's WSJ suggests that Porsche is jumping on the wagon at the worst possible time:

May 30, 2001

America's Love Affair With Sport Utilities
Is Cooling Off, and Big Three Try to Adjust
By JOSEPH B. WHITE, STEPHEN POWER and MILO GEYELIN
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


The Ford Explorer is one of the most successful and profitable consumer products ever invented. It's the vehicle that ignited America's sport-utility vehicle craze, making four-wheel drive a must for affluent suburbanites.

Now, the Explorer is about to go on trial in the halls of Congress and the courts of law and public opinion. That could mean the end of an era, whether or not safety advocates, plaintiffs' lawyers and furious executives of tire maker Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. succeed in persuading the public that Explorers are dangerously prone to rolling over when their tires fail.

Behind the noisy legal and public-relations battle between Ford Motor Co. and Firestone, big changes are underway in the social and economic environment that made the Explorer America's best-selling SUV and an iconic product of America's 1990s boom. Overall sales of "traditional" SUVs, including the $30,000 Explorer, are down 9.8% so far this year and 13.6% in April -- both compared with similar periods last year. Those figures come despite improved sales of larger models, such as General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Tahoe.

Gas prices have roughly doubled in many parts of the country over the past two years, and there are signs they are starting to hurt SUVs. In the latest J.D. Power & Associates survey of consumer attitudes on auto-industry quality, "excessive fuel consumption" was cited as a problem with 2001 truck models, including SUVs, at more than double the rate for 2000 models.

Consumers are also beginning to present symptoms of traditional SUV fatigue, says G. Clotaire Rapaille, a consultant who worked with executives of the former Chrysler Corp. on the PT Cruiser, the smash hit gangster-style wagon that DaimlerChrysler AG classifies as an SUV. "The main reason people were buying [SUVs] was that they were different," says Dr. Rapaille. But now that Explorers are everywhere, "they are losing one of the reasons people were buying these cars."

One way the auto makers are responding is by making smaller, lighter SUVs, such as the PT Cruiser. They handle more like passenger cars because under their metal skin, they are passenger cars. But a profusion of such new offerings from a wider array of manufacturers is cutting into the rich SUV profits once enjoyed by Detroit's Big Three.

The shifting market poses a long-term challenge to Ford and other U.S. auto makers, whose fat 1990s profits depended disproportionately on cranking out ever-more-lavish SUVs that sold at premium prices. During the 1990s, the sport-utility segment averaged 17% annual growth, largely because Ford nearly quadrupled sales of its SUVs, riding the success of the Explorer and its big brother, the Expedition.

Roots in WWII

The first SUV clearly aimed at families was the four-door 1984 Jeep Cherokee, which traced its roots back to the famous World War II military vehicle. It was Ford, however, that saw the enormous potential for a vehicle that offered upper-middle-class families more space and refinement than the Jeep and more macho than a minivan. The SUV's off-road capability, rarely used by most drivers, fit right in with a culture that valued products capable of handling any demand. The SUV made perfect sense for consumers who aspired to commercial-quality ranges for the kitchen, one gigabyte processors for their home computers and expensive GoreTex-lined mountaineering boots for dodging sidewalk puddles.

But now, there are signs that this exuberance is surrendering to rationality. In addition to overall SUV sales declining so far this year, resale values have fallen sharply. The resale value of a 1999 six-cylinder, four-wheel-drive Explorer dropped by 20%, to $17,225, from January 2000 to January 2001 -- more than several other top-selling cars and trucks, according to the National Auto Dealers Association Official Used Car Guide.

"This softness in all of the SUV prices started long before the Firestone issue came up," says the association's chief economist, Paul Taylor. He attributes the development to a large supply of used SUVs coming off leases, bigger new-vehicle rebates and weakened demand in a generally slow economy.

Dealers also are offering rebates earlier in the year to move new models. And Ford's redesigned 2002 Explorer is being sold only about a month into its launch with discounted 3.9% financing -- roughly half the cost of a conventional loan.

Already, Detroit executives are sounding wistful about the good old days, before the SUV safety scares, class-action litigation, $2-a-gallon gas and the onslaught of new smaller-SUV competition.

"The whole sport-utility creation probably isn't repeatable," Ford Chief Executive Jacques Nasser told analysts during a meeting last week. From now on, the SUV market won't be dominated by one or two major players, he said. Instead, it is becoming more like the passenger-car market, which is fragmenting among dozens of brands and styles.

The stakes couldn't be higher. SUVs last year accounted for nearly three million vehicles, or about 17.2% of the U.S. market, and a far greater share of Detroit's profits. The auto makers don't publicly report sport-utility profits, but Wall Street analysts have estimated that as much as one-third of Ford's overall profit now comes from SUVs -- about $3,000 a vehicle.

Washington is starting to cool to the SUV, even though many powerful government figures -- including some Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress -- are chauffeured around the capital in Chevrolet Suburbans and Lincoln Navigators. House Commerce Committee Chairman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin owns an Explorer, while Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe drives a Cadillac Escalade.

But with gas prices soaring, Congress is considering legislation to require that SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans consume less fuel. The Bush administration so far hasn't backed a specific plan to require better SUV fuel efficiency. But the White House has directed the Department of Transportation to consider whether the current standards should be toughened, based on the findings of a National Academy of Sciences study due in July.

Mid-sized SUVs, such as the Explorer, typically get 15 to 19 miles per gallon. A mid-sized sedan, like the Ford Taurus, gets 19 to 28 mpg. Thanks to the rise of SUVs, the nation's overall fuel efficiency has sunk from 26.2 mpg to 24.5 since 1987.

Responding to the building political pressure, Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler have vowed to voluntarily improve their SUV fuel economy over the next five years, using new technology, such as hybrid gas-and-electric power systems.

For more information about the energy problems the U.S. is facing, see the Power Drain special report.

Meanwhile, Rep. Tauzin has served notice he intends to stage a sequel to Commerce Committee hearings he led last fall, in the wake of the Firestone tire recall. With accusations flying between Ford and Firestone, and the auto maker replacing millions of additional tires, Mr. Tauzin's committee has asked manufacturers of tires, sport-utility vehicles, light trucks and minivans for reams of data. The panel is trying to determine whether there are problems only with certain batches of Firestone tires or with the design of the Explorer and other vehicles, as well.

As if that weren't enough to make Detroit marketers cringe, federal regulators also are calling more attention to the rollover issue. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is devising a new test that will measure the propensity of vehicles to roll over in real-life conditions. Until last year, auto makers, with help from their allies on Capitol Hill, had blocked the agency from issuing so-called "rollover ratings." But after the Firestone recall and a spate of deadly rollover accidents involving Explorers, the industry relented, and the safety agency is moving ahead with its test.

As daunting as new government ratings may seem to the industry, the dangers of plaintiffs' lawyers and juries could turn out to be far worse.

SUVs have been targeted in lawsuits over rollover-related injuries and deaths since the vehicles first appeared in the mid-1980s. Plaintiffs' lawyers say lately they are seeing a shift in public attitudes that could favor their clients -- and themselves.

Mikal Watts of Corpus Christi, Texas, began suing Ford in the mid-1990s, alleging that flaws in the Bronco II, the Explorer's predecessor, led to rollovers. It has become easier to settle SUV cases, as both sides have become aware that fewer potential jurors assume that rollovers are the fault of drivers, Mr. Watts says. Today, his jury research shows that many people believe "it may well be the vehicle's fault," he adds. The lawyer is scheduled to begin trial of a rollover suit against Ford and Firestone next week in state court in Hidalgo County, Texas.

Each company says its products are safe. And both deny any responsibility for the injuries to Mr. Watts's client, a mother of three who was left brain damaged after the Explorer in which she was a passenger rolled over. Ford spokesman Jason Vines dismisses Mr. Watts's jury research as self-serving and biased.

Most of the injury and death suits against Ford and Firestone involving the Explorer have been settled out of court, some for large sums. But even before Firestone's recall last summer, Englewood, Colo., plaintiffs' lawyer W. Randall Barnhart says he began to sense a shift. Mr. Barnhart won a $26 million compensatory-damage award in state court in Hayward, Calif., last year on behalf of a 55-year-old reinsurance executive who rolled a Bronco II and was left a quadriplegic. The jury declined to award punitive damages, but Mr. Barnhart says three jurors who voted in favor of imposing such damages drove SUVs themselves.

Ford and Firestone have held talks to try to settle about 300 individual and class-action suits against them, which have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings before the federal court in Indianapolis. But the acrimony between the companies is playing into the hands of their courtroom adversaries. The damning documents Ford and Firestone are spewing will probably end up as plaintiffs' exhibits, and the companies' chief executives could well find themselves facing off in court. Mr. Nasser and his Firestone counterpart, John Lampe, are scheduled to be deposed next month by a dozen lawyers involved in the Indianapolis cases.

Another Ford spokesman, Ken Zino, says the company isn't in more peril because of its feuding with Firestone. "We always try to reach a settlement if a customer has been injured in the use of our product. Nothing has changed." A Firestone spokeswoman says the information and documents it released last week speak for themselves and raise questions about the Explorer's stability.

Despite the scrutiny in Washington, attacks on the legal front and rising gas prices, plenty of consumers still love SUVs -- for now.

"I've been a happy camper for the last three years we've owned the car," says David Stark, President of Inland Investments in Dallas and owner of a 1998 Explorer. Mr. Stark says he's concerned about the Firestones on his vehicle, and adds that he's aware "SUVs are more likely to tip over if you get into an emergency situation." But he says he's never had "any reservations about driving the Explorer."

His wife, on the other hand, "was tired" of it, he says. She used to be the Explorer's main driver, but now she has an Acura sedan.

Dr. Rapaille, the marketing consultant, predicts that the next big craze will have nothing to do with off-road capability. His bet: stylishly retro cars.

Shifting tastes are just one reason the easy money the Big Three reaped from creating SUVs out of relatively inexpensive pickup trucks will be harder to come by in the next decade. As more and more models slice and dice the SUV market, industry forecasters expect that high-volume hits such as the Explorer will be fewer and farther between.

In 1997, auto makers sold 33 vehicles categorized as sport-utility vehicles. By 2006, Los Angeles-based automotive consultancy AutoPacific Inc. predicts, there will be 79 vehicles marketed as SUVs in America, including many by Japanese, Korean and European auto makers.

Most of the 79 SUVs won't be trucks like the Explorer, says AutoPacific consultant James Hall in the firm's Southfield, Mich., office. Instead, they will ride and handle more like passenger cars.

Sales of these smaller "crossover" vehicles, which combine some SUV features with more-efficient car or minivan designs, are up more than 176% so far this year, compared with the same period last year. Ford, the largest SUV marketer in the world, is a big part of the change. At Prestige Ford near Dallas, Texas, dealer Jerry Reynolds says customers are clamoring for more of Ford's newest SUV, the Escape.

The Escape is no Explorer. It's smaller and gets 18-to-24 mpg with the optional V-6 engine, compared with the larger four-wheel-drive Explorer's 15-to-19 mpg. Cosmetics aside, the Escape is essentially a front-wheel-drive compact car. The Explorer's mechanical DNA comes from Ford trucks. The Escape isn't expected to be as profitable as the Explorer was at its peak.

Given Ford's decision to devote two factories to building Explorers and only one to Escapes, there's no chance Escape will outsell Explorer soon. But, despite several recalls, it has turned out to be a success. "I'm selling Escapes as fast as I can get them," says Mr. Reynolds, who heads Ford's national dealer council.

"The largest threat to increased volumes of Explorers, even the new Explorer, has nothing to do with tires," says Mr. Hall of AutoPacific. "It's the Escape. If the most you carry around is four people and some stuff, it's tough to beat the Escape."

Write to Joseph B. White at joseph.white@wsj.com, Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com and Milo Geyelin at milo.geyelin@wsj.com

Everyone remember this?


http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...oads/lm002.jpg


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'71 911E with Webers
Golden Gate Region PCA

Ahhh, but did Lamborghini have to make cutbacks its factory racing program to build the Cheetah? http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/wink.gif

(PS: Lambo never had a factory racing team. Besides, Signore Lamborghini made his initial fortune building tractors--the ultimate SUV.)

Personally, I will suspend judgement on Porsche's plans to build an SUV and let the market decide. Should be...interesting.


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blue
'81 SC Targa

I'd rather have a Countach.

I wonder what would happen if Land Rover or Jeep started building sports cars?

If, in fact, the SUV is a flop and Porsche goes into financial ruins, it could be good for the consumer. What is this guy talking about? you are saying to yourself. It may cause Porsche to join forces with VW, Audi, ETC.. This has long been rumored anyway, and would lead to a great racing program. It would also give Porsche even greater exposer in smaller cities that have a VW or Audi dealer, but no Porsche dealer in town. And I think that VW, Audi, (and isn't Lamborghini part of that group now) would make great partners for Porsche.

IMHO
Paul
81 911SC

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Blackdimonds:
[B]If, in fact, the SUV is a flop and Porsche goes into financial ruins, it could be good for the consumer... It would also give Porsche even greater exposer in smaller cities that have a VW or Audi dealer, but no Porsche dealer in town. And I think that VW, Audi, (and isn't Lamborghini part of that group now) would make great partners for Porsche.

Currently, many VW/Audi dealers also sell Porsches. But VW is in financial trouble and in danger of being taken over. VW is considering spinning off Audi as a "poison pill" defense, since Audi is the crown jewel. Ford is sniffing around VW, so you might eventually be able to take your 911 to a Ford dealer for service !!! http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/smile.gif You might even see Ford parts in Porsches. Buyers of Aston Martins have been thrilled to see an interior that looks a lot like a Taurus.

Damn, I was hoping we'd see Chevy parts in Porsches. Especially a nice small block V8...

SMACK!

Uh...sorry.


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blue
'81 SC Targa

[This message has been edited by BlueSkyJaunte (edited 05-30-2001).]

You know, I have an old Dodge Powerwagon that could rescue that little critter should somebody be actually foolish enough to take it off road. Besides, where would you carry a field dressed deer, bear, or elk?

The LMA simply kicks A$$!

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William Armentrout
1973 911T
2.7 carerra rs specs
www.geocities.com/william_armentrout

here is the nicer version and the p/u
http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate.../cayenne_f.jpg
http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...porsche_pu.jpg


[This message has been edited by ronin993 (edited 05-30-2001).]

PU version? Would NOT haul a field dressed bull elk. Right, Randy? Right? These east coast people.... http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by pwd72s (edited 05-30-2001).]

Looks like a BMW X5, but with that SAME darn neo-Porsche nose again.

I guess I will be able to tell it from a Boxter or 996 at a distance because it will be the one tipping over....

Bob D.
'92 C2

Here is some Cayenne optimism:

HypoVereinsbank tips car stocks
Peugeot, Porsche, DaimlerChrysler get thumbs up

By Taska Manzaroli, FTMarketWatch.com 3:50:00 PM BST May 25, 2001

MUNICH (FTMW) - Peugeot [FR:012150], Porsche [DE:693773] and DaimlerChrysler [DE:710000] [US http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/biggrin.gifCX] are likely to outperform other European car stocks over the next months, according to a report by HypoVereinsbank.

Analysts at Germany's second-biggest bank reckon that car companies worldwide will boost operating earnings by an average of about 39 percent in 2002 after stagnation this year. The profit gains will stem from reorganisations and new models.

"We're forecasting a significantly higher earnings dynamic in 2002 compared to this year," analysts Georg Stuerzer and Albrecht Denninghoff wrote in a report on the industry.

The analysts rate France's Peugeot a "buy" with a price target of €413 because of its "extremely attractive" valuation and a raft of new models. The stock was last trading at €328.20.

Zoom

Porsche is rated a "buy" as it can expect "a significant increase" in earnings once it has introduced its Cayenne sports utility vehicle. The preferred stock could rise to €480, the analysts reckon. That compares with Friday's price of €397.

DaimlerChrysler gets the analysts' thumbs up amid optimism that it will manage to turn around its loss-making U.S. and Japanese businesses. The analysts give it a "outperform" rating and have a price target of €66. Its stock was little changed at €56.27.

BMW [DE:519000] and Renault [FR:013190] both have upward potential, but are unlikely to generate above-average growth rates, the analysts said. HypoVereinsbank rates the shares "neutral".

Volkswagen [DE:766400] and Fiat [UK:0268897], by contrast, are rated "underperform".

VW's margins are still below those of its French rivals and the company is feeling the pinch from fierce competition in the mass market in Western Europe, the analysts said.

Fiat has a "fundamental strategic problem" as it is focussed on the small cars, whose margins have crumbled, they added.

Analysts' price targets and share price potential:

. Company Price Target Growth potential

1 BMW €42 4%

2 DaimlerChrysler €66 17%

3 Porsche €480 33%

4 Volkswagen €52 -10%

5 Peugeot €413 29%

6 Renault €68 12%

7 Fiat €27 0

Taska Manzaroli is a reporter for FTMarketWatch.com based in Berlin.




Latest Industry News

Economic issues for Porsche aside, I find the Cayenne a bit of an embarrassment for the Porsche marque. Sports car manufactures just don't - for the larger picture anyhow - make SUVs. Therefore, well, it reduces the impact of Porsche as a sports car manufacturer.
Aside from that, I really hate SUVs. In the UK there are really quite a few (we don't call them SUVs, by the way) but in the US they are everywhere. When I lived in LA I was seeing more and more, but now its ridiculous, it's like every other car. I'm sure the UK would be the same but high fuel costs prohibit and encourage the slightly less awful (and better if one hits your 911) Euro Hatchback - small 2 or 4 door, 1,000cc or so, hatchback. I can't help but feel there's about a 2% real need for SUVs so the rest is just pointless....
My SUV hate vented for today http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/wink.gif
Anthony

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'75 911S Targa
'81 BMW Alpina C1 2.3
http://member.aol.com/asaffery/my911s.html

[This message has been edited by Saffs (edited 05-30-2001).]

The wrong car at the wrong price at the wrong time...

Yuk!

Never mind, with any luck it'll be on sale for about three to five years, be quietly withdrawn, and in another five years only people like us will remember it...

Hang on to your old 911s everyone - someday the factory might need to examine a few for inspiration.

Its sad. Really very sad.

I just hope, fervantly, that they won't lose everything on this silly gamble.

We've been here before, in 1974-75 and 1991-92. Each time the factory came close to bankruptcy, each time the basic strength of the product line and the loyalty of the customers pulled it through.

- roGER

Just saw the ultimate SUV moment. A large Woman with peroxide hair was reversing in to a fairly large parking spot in the street - she was in a newish Rav 4. I was sat on a bench just relaxing and saw her reversing. She took about 10 mins. to reverse in, never actually looking backwards, just in the mirrors. Eventually she hit the VW Jetta behind her with a big crunch....
(Nothing against large Women or preoxide hair BTW.)
Anthony

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'75 911S Targa
'81 BMW Alpina C1 2.3
http://member.aol.com/asaffery/my911s.html

Hello

Ford in actuall Porsche ?

Sure Viseton is delivering several modules. The door opener is a slightly modified Ford Focus/Mondeo unit.

The 993 was a "turnaround" in the Porsche world.

Before that Porsche tried to make the best car doesn´t matter what others think.

Then came the crisis and Mr. Kaizen himself was turning the Porsche philosophy around. Now Porsche where pointet to; as good as BMW in Shareholdervalue and Productquality.

Just make a car with a good surface.

Also this was easyer as all the OEM could modify existing parts and doesn´t have to made special Porsche high quality parts.

This all ( and much more ) droped the costs.

Porsche is the only company ever that made such a turnaround within 3 Years.

The reason for the SUV is very simple; new costumers.

The car is not focused on us Sportscardriver. It is focused on the 50% human being known as female.

Porsche also is hoping for sales in the more "Off" areas like Asia/Pacific or Russia.

Well yes VW is in financial trouble as they have bought Bentley, Lamborgini, Bugatti, Cosworth engenieering and many other companys.

Piech is a bit grazy and thinks real big ( Well the austrians seem to have this always in there heads ).

Many of those companys need huge money to invest in new products and then they will hit on the inhouse rivals.

But on the other hand Lamborgini is a Traktor and farmer machine company with the best engenieering for those tasks. I can follow most of his moves like on a chess board.

Ford is not in a strong position. VW is partially owned by the staate and Volkswagen owns a hughe stock themself. A big share was spread to the small people and they don´t react like a bank. Thats why the stock value is under the average. VW stocks sould normally be at BMW level. VW was never focused in shareholdervalues and reinvestet more in the company & products.

A friendly merger would maybe work. But why should Piech ? he is some 10 Years ahead from Ford and in the next car generation his products share platforms very effective.

Ford is now still on the start and "captured" Mr. Reitzle to get a line in the products. And Reitzle will have his impact hopefully in the US production.

Also Ford and VW had some sharing projects ( f.e. the Sharan/Galaxy Minivans ) and VW allways bought them out as they had to much trouble in the philosophy. Quality is allways one of the most imortant things for VW but Ford even don´t had that on focus.
Ford Galaxy ( realy, thats the name i know the US Galaxys ) owners drove there Vans to VW to get major problems fittet. Very basic things like selfburning cars or decentered hubs. Ford germany has lost more then the half from his inland marked.

The future will not go on like the uS heads think. The average costumer will go to a good quality product and use it longer and then the hughe capacitys in US car industrie will break in. The "Facliftindustrie" doesn´t have the power to generate technologigical progress. Some companys have more designers and cost controlers then engenieers.

And yes the new Cayenne is also integratet as VW platform. The other trick is that Porsche even doen´t have to sell any SUV to make money with the branch. The branch is built from Porsche Austria money ( Witch is a company from Piech ) and "rentet" to Volkswagen.

Also Porsche has plans to build some other cars in that branch if the SUV will fail.

Maybe we see an other VW-Porsche or Audi-Porsche again ?

Hadn´t been bad cars either ?

Grüsse

Slaves to fashion - Doctor Porsche will be turning in his grave. Can you imagine asking him to design an SUV and specifying low profile tires because they look good.

Signed "Old fart with 911" and proud of it.

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Allan Broadribb
'70-911E, 2.2l with Webers
http://www.cheaterswayside.com/uploads/Mvc-002s355.jpg

Re Mr Kunz's posting:
1. When Porsche started outsourcing components with the 993, did the quality fall?
2. FYI: Porsche is opening a dealership in Beijing.
3. VW CEO Piech "thinks big"? Compared to...? Jurgen Schremmp? The latter has been thinking "big" for a decade, acquiring Freightliner, Fokker and Chrysler, all of which have lost money for Daimler. And he tried to acquire Nissan but his board vetoed it.

I'm looking forward to the "Porsche City Smart" http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/rolleyes.gif

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...440682295A.jpg

Slam on a Porsche crest and some 996 headlights and you're ready to go....

Hello

In fact Dr.Porsche died neraly at the same moment when the last 993 was rolled out from the factory.

----

1. When Porsche started outsourcing components with the 993, did the quality fall ?

Well it was still ol 911 and all the things startet to improve the 964. When the 964 came out the 993 was allready under his way even the body contours and all the other things where nearly finished. Mainly the time was investet for the new Turbo witch needed a new rear axle and many usefull things to make maintance easyer. On the other end they went trough the ready car and simplfied the most things and many OEM´s where "lopezed" ( price dictation ). A good point on decreasing quality in small numbers is how the licence plate lights went down over the years.
On the 993 every cent was turned more then twice and the cost controler had the last word.
But similar things did happen with Mercedes and some others too. Some had been allready a decade ahead ( BMW ).

----
2. FYI: Porsche is opening a dealership in Beijing.


I think they hope to sale 20 cars this year. Also Porsche is maybe constructing the new chinese Volkswagen.

The SUV will have some markets in rougher areas from Asia, Africa, South America, North America, Australia, Arabia/middle east, Russia. Just where a sportscar isn´t usable as the streets are even worser then in New York.

There are many wealthy people siting on there haziendas. Thinking about the annual replacment for there high performance SUV ( Yes those Cheetas get old too and the HumVee isn´t really a drivers car )

-----

3. VW CEO Piech "thinks big"? Compared to...? Jurgen Schremmp? The latter has been thinking "big" for a decade, acquiring Freightliner, Fokker and Chrysler, all of which have lost money for Daimler. And he tried to acquire Nissan but his board vetoed it.

Oh in germany Piech was compared to A.Hitler.

Piech isn´t a normal industrial leader, he is more a dictator.

And Mercedes did aquire many companys over the years. But they allways made money with it. They just keep it looking bad to save on taxes. Mostley the aquired companys where partially joined into MB and the ( useless ) rest spitet out and had to run on them self or with help from the goverment.

Well at the Daimler Chrysler "merger" I was thinking who pulled the other over the table.

Most of the analysts in germany can´t see the reason why mercedes should merge with Chrysler. Some of them said that Chrysler will be much cheaper in the future.

But generally it was a simple way for daimler to save big money on taxes ( the merging was done under german law as the tax rate for that is much better ).

Well there was a joke. Chrysler merged as the gEO´s would like to park there Mercedes in the company parking lots and Mercedes GEO`s as they could rise there earnings to chrysler level.


@ Mikkel

Don´t you know that Porsche had to redesign the suspension after the A-class cause ? Porsche widened the rear stance and made a new shock setup ( little turbo ) but engenieers said it has a generally missconstruction and needs a redesign.

Now rumors are that the next smart is constructet with some help from Porsche and will have a more midengine layout.

First cars are out in the streets and will hit sales as a sporty two seat roadster.

Grüsse

Roland,

good points. what annoys me most are people that think that Americans are the only people in the world that buy SUVs. i've written way too much about this and i think that the people that think that the Porsche Cayenne is "late" don't know about the oil magnates that buy $1,000,000 custom Aston Martins every year... 4 at a time. you know, the same guys that bought the most expensive car that Maserati could make.. and then had them modified for more power.

there's a lot of people in the world that WANT a Sports car, but they physically can not drive them where they live. you could sell a hundred thousand Cayennes to them though.

to others: Dr Porsche would not be rolling in his grave... he'd probably have a Cayenne modified to fit a turbo V10, and then take delight in passing everyone on the Autobahn.

obin