an observation about european cars vs the rest of the

[Peter Wong]

Unfortunately, the cross-pollenation of cars is going to be inevitable.  The
pressures of global competition and acquisition of so many car companies by
the bigger ones will lead to a lot more "badge engineering" as opposed to real
differences between the different brands.

You mentioned Jaguar and Saab which are already sharing platforms and major
components (engines & trannies) with other Ford products.

But by 2004 you can expect Mercedes to start sharing components with Chysler
large car products. Further, it is very unlikely that Volvo will be able to
get away from not having shared components as tremendous cost savings can be
had by doing so.

This change is inevitable and as VW migrates their brand over to being a luxury
brand, you can expect that the majority of components and platforms will be
shared.  Even now, the similarities are striking.  You only need to drive a
VW Jetta or Passat to realize how incredibly similar the switchgear and tactile
feel of the car is to an Audi (albeit with less noise insulation).

The funny thing is, it only really rankles me when equipment from a lower brand
car is used in a higher brand car.  I think I'll puke when I find a Chysler
transmission in the next Mercedes C-Class.

On the other hand, the use of the Audi 4wheel drive system in a Jetta (whenever
that reaches our shores) will actually intrigue me enough to consider buying
a VW! :)

Thanks,
Peter

>This is also why I consider the latest Saab and Jaguar cars less than
>genuine.  They are all Saab and Jaguar on the surface, but it's only skin
>deep.  Beneath that skin is all GM and Ford.  The fact that they have to
>work hard to change the skin to Saab-ize and Jaguar-ize the cars is in
>itself the crux of the issue.  Perhaps GM and Ford did help these fabled
>companies stay afloat but at a great expense to the souls of the cars.
>
>I hope that Volvo stays true to its own core and not make cars that are
>just Fords with an Volvo-esque mask.
>
>-Ti
>01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
>84 5000S 2.1 turbo
>80 4000 2.0
>-- 
>    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
>   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
>  ///    ti at amb.org
> //////  http://www.amb.org/ti/
>///
>
>