Whoopsy:
Had the original deal went through, VAG would have been integrated into Porsche with minimal impact, at most Audi would need to scale back and that's all.
The same thing cannot be said integrating Porsche into VAG, Audi would have been the main obstruction, all of Porsche's product overlap with Audi's, I do not see Piech scaling back his baby to accommodate Porsche, even if Audi would still have a strong product mix even scaling back.
Porsche may have a strong racing heritage, but Audi had been pretty successful in racing lately, I don't see VAG financing 2 full blown factory racing effort, care to guess which brand Piech pick?
Cayenne share platform with Toureg and Q7, but on prices the products do overlap, and I see Piech letting Porsche keep the top end Cayennes while conceding the lower price level to Q7 and Toureg.
Cayman/Boxster is in the same segment as Audi TT, A5, competing for the same customers, do one seriously think Piech would let Porsche keep them and take away Audi's potential customers? Piech might transform it using the TT or A4 platform on next cycle.
Panamera is brand new, but it goes head to head against Audi A8/S8, Bentley 4-door Continental, I do not see Piech letting Porsche keep the Panamera after one cycle, it might reborn on the next Phaeton/A8 platform if it can exist after one cycle, but it would have been 50% less car than what it is now at best.
911 is Porsche's bread and butter and icon, but it's in the same segment as R8, Gallardo and Bentley Continental GT, does it really have a bright future under VAG? Piech is obsessed with platform and parts sharing, and 911 is the odd man out with sharing stuff, do one really want to see lesser VAG general parts bin stuff in a 911?
Just a rough count, Porsche's annual production would have been at what 1/3 of what it is now, with a reduced revenue, it would have less money to develop new products, or even go racing at all, it will be just another parasite brand under VAG, like Bugatti. Piech is not going to pump extra money into Porsche, he never like the brand in the first place.
You guys are just wishful thinking Piech the good engineer that he once was is good for Porsche, but he is also the same one who shaped Audi into a Porsche fighter, he is definitely going to trim Porsche to fit within VAG.
Whoopsy, your product rationalization exercise above follows a certain logic. However, VW will spend money to save Porsche and I don't think they will have any incentive to waste the Porsche brand. They are not naive at all and they realise the power of the brand not only in the traditional markets but also in the "new rich" markets.
IMO, Porsche couldn't have been degraded more (in spite of recognising the progress in quality and production methods) than under the WW-Haerter "casino management" regime. Things can only get better in future. Porsche will again become a product and engineering driven company rather than a (ultimately unsuccessful) financial institution.
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