audi & maserati co-operation explained: luca montezemolo

[David Eaton]

below an extract from an interview between autoweek & luca
montezemolo where he covers the terms of the agreement
between audi and ferrari/maserati.

it contains some interesting hints as to future audi
products (rwd!) s well as the mutual benefit/fit...

dave
'01 s8

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Q: Could you confirm that the plan is to have the Kubang
built in aluminum by Audi? 

A: Yes, but I do not want our cooperation with Audi to be
reduced to the possible production of the Kubang. It is a
broader cooperation of mutual benefits. 

Q: Could you outline these benefits for both sides? 

A: For Maserati, we have access to high-performance
four-wheel-drive systems, to high-displacement, high-output
diesel engines and to electronic systems, which our economy
of scale would make too expensive to develop in-house. 

In addition, we could add the Maserati franchise to Audi
dealers all over the world. 

Finally, we are talking about using Audi financial services
for Maserati, something crucial because in this segment
competitors such as BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes and Porsche
worldwide lease about 80 percent of their sales. 

For Audi, producing an aluminum vehicle for Maserati will
help them to better use their installed capacity. The VW
group now has a number of low-volume brands and could
benefit from Ferrari and Maserati know-how for low-volume
production. 

Finally, there is the Quattroporte system they are
evaluating. 

The VW group drove and was very impressed by the new
Maserati Quattroporte. They are considering our Quattroporte
as a base for a new rear-drive model they are planning. 

I'm very proud of this attention from VW, which means we did
a great job with the Quattroporte, a model which was
developed totally in-house with no carryovers from the past
generation, or from other brands of Fiat Group.