Re: News from VW/Audi/Porsche

[steveb@newkla.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

It turns out that in the past Porsche and Audi were sold from the same 
dealerships.  A beautiful image of a Porsche 917 with a Porsche+Audi 
sign on the car just popped into my mind :-).  I don't know why they 
broke the connection in the first place. (must have been done during 
the'80s)  It certainly makes more sense to me than the Audi/Hyundai or 
Audi/Daihatsu dealerships we had around here.  Most of the dealerships 
in this area already sell both Porsche & Audi (or all 3 + VW).

You might think of it as certain marques have more "status" than others, 
or you might think of it as a differentiator.  I think of what GM has 
recently done.  In the recent past it was sometimes difficult to distin-
guish a Chevy from a Pontiac from a Buick from an Olds.  They continue 
to share platforms, but market each marque to a different segment.  I 
think that having separate dealerships helps to keep them from compet-
ing with each other as much.

Porsche & Audi do collaborate and share parts as well.  The most recent 
instance of this that I'm aware of is the Audi Avant RS2 (BIG :-).  
Porsche has gotten motors for its models from both Audi (924) and VW 
(914).  As long as they dont adopt a Roger Smith mentality if it allows 
them to prosper and to continue to make the cars that they do I don't 
have a problem with having both cars sold in the same dealerships.  
It allows me to keep an eye out for that 928 when I stop by to get 
parts for one of the Qs.

Steve Buchholz