I was catching up on some magazine reading a few weeks ago and read an article in Porsche Panorama magazine about the future of Porsche and specifically it’s autonomy in the wake of Volkswagen’s takeover of the company. One of the scarier moments for those who follow the company from an executive standpoint was when Matthias Müller was named as Porsche’s new CEO.
Müller, a VW executive, replaced Michael Macht who had been with the brand for 20 years. To me, it felt a bit like VW infiltrating the company and perhaps the beginning of the end of Porsche as we have known it for so many years. Although rumors have surfaced here and there over the past year about Porsche maintaining it’s autonomy, we all knew that couldn’t be the way things would look long term. The Panorama article addressed a number of these concerns and questions, putting many of them to rest (at least from an editorial standpoint).
There will certainly be change, a sharing of technology, parts and processes, especially from VW down I would assume. It’s also clear that models such as the Boxster and Cayenne stand to see more integration and commonality with VW’s other vehicles and owned brands. Professor Winterkorn, however, has referred to the 911 as Porsche’s “jewel” with promises that “Porsche will remain Porsche” according to Panorama.
Word is that the Porsche 911 will remain under Porsche’s control with development continuing on in Weissach.
It’s still interesting to me, sadness about the forced changes to this family run company aside, to think about how this will impact Porsche in the long term. I wonder how the brand will evolve and what identity it will lose at the expense of making it more productive and profitable.
One of the great things about cars is regardless of what happens to the company in the future, we still have examples around that represent the company as we want to remember it. The roots of Porsche in the 356 and 911 will never change. Want to jump back to another point in time for Porsche? Just jump in a 1980’s 911SC and enjoy the company and it’s development process in all it’s glory at that point in time.
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