Will Porsche ever be independent of VW again?

[woodsman]

I too wish Porsche was independent. Never gonna happen with the best bottom line in the business. Such a shame. Much of the current Porsche makes me gag as their need to make more $$$ is SO obvious. Just look at the big push they've got going about how swell winter driving your Porsche can be. End result is Porsche's are 'less special' everyday. No wonder folks hold onto to the aircooled tighter everyday...

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by woodsman

I too wish Porsche was independent. Never gonna happen with the best bottom line in the business. Such a shame. Much of the current Porsche makes me gag as their need to make more $$$ is SO obvious. Just look at the big push they've got going about how swell winter driving your Porsche can be. End result is Porsche's are 'less special' everyday. No wonder folks hold onto to the aircooled tighter everyday...

Ekam posted about this several months back, for those not in the know the article he referenced was beyond eye opening as to what / why things went the way they did for Porsche:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/54701-porsche-hedge-fund-also-made-cars.html

While I do agree with Perfectlap that the current air cooled market may be unwarranted or a bubble (especially since everything built since then is more comfortable and performs better) I also grudgingly agree with many of the arrogant "Purists" that the evolution into mass production / sharing components or entire sub-assemblies that the 986 / 996 series introduced really watered down the sports car concoction in the name of pure profitability. Seeing the current sales figures for Porsche regarding SUV's vs. Sports Cars only reinforces that stance. It has IMO made the marque that much less special.

A video that summarizes it all IMO, around the 2:40 mark...."Looking for things that weren't created to be something to everyone, but EVERYTHING to someone"

[mikefocke]

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.

[jsceash]

On the side of my transmission.

[Giller]

Originally Posted by woodsman

I too wish Porsche was independent. Never gonna happen with the best bottom line in the business. Such a shame. Much of the current Porsche makes me gag as their need to make more $$$ is SO obvious. Just look at the big push they've got going about how swell winter driving your Porsche can be. End result is Porsche's are 'less special' everyday. No wonder folks hold onto to the aircooled tighter everyday...

Independent or not, they would still have an owner, and that owner would probably like to make MONEY. Porsche is a business, plain and simple. It's goal is to make the most appealing products in order to sell the most product.
Fortunately, for the most part, they are still producing some of the best vehicles around. The 911 is still the vehicle other sports cars are measured against and the Macan is an amazing sport suv.
Porsche is still at the top of the heap, IMO.