Re: Cayenne vs Touareg

On 20 Oct 2003 12:58:56 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Stephen H. Westin) wrote:
>As others have pointed out, no. They have had a pretty close
>association over the years, though:
>
>o Porsche did the original engineering for the Beetle and some
>  derivatives before they ever built their own car.
>
>o The original Porsche 356 borrowed heavily from the Beetle design
>  and componentry.
>
>o Many VW models were engineered by Porsche.
>
>o The 914 was an odd joint venture; Porsche dealers sold it with a
>  6-cylinder Porsche engine as a Porsche; VW sold it with a VW
>  Transporter engine as a VW-Porsche.
>
>o The Porsche 924 was originally designed for VW; when VW dropped
>  the project, it was manufactured in the old (VW-owned) NSU plant
>  for Porsche. It was based heavily on VW componentry (LT engine,
>  Super Beetle suspension, VW transaxle) and developed into the 944
>  and 968, which had a Porsche engine and ventured farther from its
>  VW origins.

        All of this misses the important part: why.
        The Porsche family (which still owns the company, for all intents
and purposes) withdrew from the running of the company in the late
70s, but they are closely entwined via marriage with the Peich family,
which owns/controls the VW/Audi car groups (which owns Bugatti and
Lamborghini, as someone pointed out). The Porsches don't run their own
company, but have run VW/Audi for decades. 
        The Porsches stopped running operations at Porsche the company
because they felt the best minds weren't coming to work for them
since, with the family running everything, there were no serious
advancement opportunities. They take more of an administrative role
with VW/Audi operations nowadays, I believe. But this positioning lets
them arrange projects with both companies. Personally, I don't see
that VW needed the Toureg as much as Porsche supposedly did. Then
again, I think Porsche should have created a super-saloon (ala M5 or
E55) rather than an SUV.
        Emanuel