It’s Official

I should have posted this yesterday, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. The Associated Press is reporting that Porsche is indeed becoming part of Volkswagen. It looks like the merger could be wrapped up as soon as the end of summer.

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is promising that Porsche will remain autonomous, even though it will be under the VW umbrella. Also, the Qatar investment fund is supposed to acquire 17% of VW.

I was talking about this with Jeremy (one of our avid PorschePerfect.com readers) this morning and after some conversation, I came to the realization that this is just one of those things that probably was going to happen one way or another. In some ways, Porsche didn’t have a choice but to go after VW. They could benefit greatly from VW’s technology and R&D.

The other option, keeping their noses to the grindstone, would likely have led to problems given the economy. This could have led to a similar situation. It’s also interesting to consider that Porsche and VW have already worked closely together on projects sharing technology and processes.

Regardless, I don’t think anyone LOVES the idea of Porsche becoming part of a 10 brand conglomerate, but how many independent automakers do we still have left in the world? Course I’m saying the same stuff I’ve said before, so I’ll stop there.

Volkswagen mentioned one final thing worth mentioning that has the potential of completely altering Porsche as we know it. They added a statement about the “gradual involvement of Volkswagen in Porsche”.

Comments

  1. hope they don’t ruin a good thing.so many car companies buy another then ruin what made it going after in the first place.

  2. yes, i posted before that the future unknown and it could really go either way. that last line is a bit disturbing. i mean, it would seem it should be the other way around, unless they are referring to matters outside of actual car design and performance – such as mass production on a cheaper scale, or dealer relationships, etc. who knows?!

  3. I’m fine with this move. Audi & Lamborghini don’t seem to be suffering under VW, I think Porsche will be fine.

  4. will we see much of a difference?? hopefully for the better!!

  5. Hope this works out. Can’t be any worse then being owned by the government of the U.S. 😉

  6. It’s sad that private companies can’t survive in
    this world of ours. I hope Porsche doesn’t get watered
    down. I own a ’07 MV Agusta F4 1000 R and that company
    was purchased by Harley Davidson last October. No disrespect
    to Harley or owners of those motorcycles but I’m a little
    bummed out by this fact. I know Harley brings tradition
    and as a strong company they have a lot of resources,
    but they have Buell? Isn’t that enough? Someone give me
    a bit of insight please.

  7. The acquisition seems to have two messages, Porsche will remain autonomous and yet in closing they suggest more involvement of VW into Porsche…Dont quite know how i feel about the latter.Does not sit that well with me.
    I wonder if Pre VW Porsches now become a little more coveted.

  8. Hopefully the involvement is just more cross platform integration with the other non-911 flagship models, like currently. Cayenne/ Touareg, and the new VW Blue/ Audi / potential new Porsche as a new entry level below the Boxster. It’s going to be interesting because Macht is known for running a leaner machine, but I’m sure they’re really entertaining lower range entry price-points to increase exposure and volume. Only time will tell…

  9. audi has gotten better but they had a lot room for improvement than porsche does.

  10. c’mon folks, don’t fear the V-Dub! Porsche will be fine.

  11. We will have to see what the next chapter of the Porsche story lokks like. Hope it’s a good read.

  12. I think this has the potential to be a great thing. I just do not see why VW would want to lessen the greatness of Porsche in any way. If anything it may make the VW product an even better line of machines.

  13. I was hoping it was going to work out the other way around, but I am optimistic that this will be a very good thing for the Porsche brand in the long-run.

  14. vw does have a lot of resources.hope they use them for good.

  15. Beyond our control obviously, but as you say, with the resources of VW, they should be able to keep Porsche a strong entity.

  16. now they’ll have more money for r & d!!!

  17. Porche needs to stay exclusive; mass production = kiss of death