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In the late '90s the common platforms and the Boxster saved Porsche. Porsche focused its limited resources on what it could do well to differentiate its product in function and image.
Who cares if a heater motor or O2 sensor was made by someone else or shared. Let alone filters, brakes, switch gear, etc. Better to spread procurement costs, use proven parts, reduce warranty claims, and increase customer satisfaction than control everything especially with a relatively small base of sales to support individuality for the sake of individuality. The profits can be invested in the next generation thus assuring we have something interesting to choose. And paid out to stockholders for taking the risk.
Not that I haven't thought there are too many VW-group models, a worry I also have about every manufacturer. The product planners listen to every dealer's whine over not having something to fill a niche and how many sales they might have lost. When I think how little the last car sales guy knew about my most recent purchase, I shudder. Not to mention how few examples of a specific model they had on the lot. I go back to the days of GM and their 5 divisions and each division had to have something slightly different but in every niche even if they were pretty much the same.
I owned a VW Type 3, Type 4 and 914. They were all poor in terms of product quality. My Boxsters were wonderfully reliable. I'll take shared platforms and parts.
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