Re: Audi switches in Ferrari?

[ets@wrkgrp.com (Edward T Spire)]

>From: Todd Paciorek <ir000185@pop3.interramp.com>
>Date: Fri,  6 Sep 96 18:37:57    
>Subject: Audi swiches in Ferrari? Am I the only one to notice?
>
>In perusing the latest car rags, all of which seem 
>to have a spread on the new Ferrari 550, I noticed something - 
>
>The power mirror switches on the console are the 
>exact units I have on the door of my Coupe quattro.
>
>Now, what does this information mean:
>
>a) Ferrari is trying to follow after Audi.
>
>b) The switches just happened to match what 
>Ferrari's designers were looking for.
>
>c) The parts are really different and Ferrari 
>just knocked them off for some of Audi's star appeal.

I once had an 85 hump-back Seville (biggest waste of funds I ever did)
and it had the standard Delco automatic climate control panel.  I
replaced this piece of junk when the (transmission and the engine both
died) with an 89 200, and lo and behold it had the exact same automatic
climate control (different trim, but otherwise identical, exactly
identical in it's odd functioning.)  I asked the dealer about that, and
he said that Audi routinely buys parts that fit their design needs
wherever they can get them, from the cheapest reliable supplier, rather
than engineering every thing they need from scratch. So either they buy
this part from Ferrari, or vice versa, or they both buy it from a third
party.

So the closest "right" answer above is probably (b).


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