Cayenne and Panamera to get axed by VW?

No loss on the Panamera front. Less mobile FUG is always good.

Why axe Cayenne? Makes good money. Maybe Piech is going to brand it a Bugatti and dump the W16 in it.

 

I thought the Cayenne was a good business move to leverage the brand and make more bucks.

I hate the Panamera !!!! No redeaming qualities. Plus it's plain ugly. But some Porshes are.

 

Wow.

Good news.

 

+1.

even better move: resurrect the 928, get back into LMS/ALMS P1.

 

I'll believe it when I see it.

The Cayenne is highly profitable and is almost 1/3 of their worldwide sales. Personally, I love the truck, and have owned a few.

You can get rid of the Panamera anytime however IMHO.....FUGLY, and stupid, is right.

 

And I thought they were dumping the Tourag in favor of the Cayenne? Cayenne is a hot seller in Reno/Tahoe -- they're everywhere. Tourag, not so much

 

Article says discontinue in 7 years; a lot can happen in 7 years.

When you don't have to show your hand you can do a lot of chest thumping in that time period.

 

+1

 

The new Audi Q5 is also build on the same platform... maybe that's what they'd rather push.

 

Hopefully by the time they phase out the cayenne they have come up with a solid car, which IMO is a merger of the Cayenne Turbo S and the GTS. Lots of insane power with physic-defying handling and a manual transmission. Thats what I'm waiting for (and I've had 5 cayennes).

Audi is a better looking car btw

 

I thought it was the Q7?

Anyway, a combined Porsche/VW needs to be careful in avoiding the platform/badge engineering that nearly killed GM. Axing the Cayenne and R8 would be great starts.

The Panamera should be killed on general principle.

 

The Panamerica is no big loss. I saw a test mule..... I loved the front, sides and interior but the back was HORRIBLE. A sedan hatch??? No thanks I'll stick to the E class or wait a minute, that's now ugly. Well, at least there is always the 5 series..... Hold on- ugly too. I do like the Cayenne/Q5/Q7, toureg not so much.

 

I was hoping they would build a coupe from the Pana. I do not think it is pretty, but if it drives all well as I have read it has, I might find a place for one. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the Cayenne sold better than the VW or the Audi versions.

 

buttom line is that P can be free to do what it does best-sports cars. Vw, Audi can handle saloons and trucks.

 

Sales being what they are, I would have guessed that the Boxster or Caymen base models might have been first in line for the gallows...

But then I read somewhere that they are thinking of building a smaller-disp. entry level Boxster with a flat four!

I personally think they are branding out too far, almost like the 914, 924, 928 days and unfortunately now do not have the classic air-cooled 911 waiting in the wings to save them.

As for that Panamera - I think a lot of people really in that 4 seat price range are either going to go for an AMG, or else opt up the extra 120K or so to get the new Aston Martin Rapide.

At least neither one of these would give you a male case of morning sickness when you walk into your garage.

 

The Audi R8 is magnificent. I think it has a good future with all the intra-Audi component sharing. The real surprise is that Porsche didn't follow up the CGT with a high-end, mid-engined production car like the R8. Porsche seems to be locked in to having a rear-engined car as its flagship, which was OK in 1989 but not so OK in 2009. I think Audi out-sported Porsche while Porsche was busy making an ugly sedan and an SUV. Given the choice between a 911 Turbo or R8, I'd have to go with the R8 right now, especially in V10 configuration.

With regard to the Cayenne, the Touraeg is the same platform, and makes perfect sense as a VW. I agree, VW-Audi-Porsche should pay attention to the badge-engineering/platform-sharing debacle that helped kill GM.

Also, the Q5 and Q7 are both very nice trucks, and should fill the upmarket need for a fast luxury SUV. Sales lost due to the Cayenne being dropped would probably be regained by Audi, especially if they were to produce a performance-oriented Q5.

 

Could POLITICS be raising it's ugly head in this story? After all, weren't there some funny-money maneuvers where Porsche was taking over VW, and then it got totally flipped over?
Maybe some executives are holding a grudge with good old Porsche?

Sort of reminds me of that TV movie with Jim Garner "Enemy at the Gates" where the two major tobaccor companies were doing a WWF slapdown on each other in hostile takeover plays...

And I can just see Garner paraphrased when he first tasted his companies new "health cigarette" - Do you guys mean to tell me that we spent 10 Million Dollars developing a cigarette that tastes like sh*!!?? (Substitute the chairmans first look at the Panamera here...)

 

I was actually referring to the R8/Gallardo badge engineering, not it competing with the 911. The future of CGT style Porsches has to be in question with VW also owning Bugatti and Lambo...how to find room in the marketplace and a way to be profitable without losing the distinctiveness of the brands.

 

I doubt, that they will drop the Cayenne. In fact it is just a Touareg with a different body and a tuned up engine. And with a price tag way way bigger. The prices to build one, including development cost etc. are nearly the same. It would be foolish to stop producing the big Porsche truck. They earn a lot of money with it.
Plus, the average Cayanne buyer would not buy a Touarag or a Q7 and vice versa.
VW has got a lot of shared models: SEAT Leon, Audi A3 and the Skoda Octavia are nothing more than a VW Golf with different price tags.
Which is quite clever. They offer cars in every price range and give the customers the posibility to define themself. Audis are lifestyle cars, the VWs are family cars and for young people who can not afford an Audi, while the Skoda and Seat are the cheap cars, only those will buy who can not afford to upsize.

The same principles can be applied to Lamborghini, Porsche and the R8. Porsches are generally more decent, while the Lambo is a bright "look at me car". Except for car nuts like us, they are courting two completely different types of customers.
The R8 is somewhat special here. I think it is more of a car to push the Audi brand with a super sports car to add the "legendary touch" (in combination with their involvement in motorsport). They try to give their brand a sense of sportiness.

The Panamera is interesting. I have seen one on the german roads and I have to admit, that it looks way better then on any photo I have seen. From the front it looks like a upsized Corvette and the back looks like an upsized 911 butt. Not bad at all.

And I strongly believe, there will be a successor of the mighty Carrera GT, for the Porsche holding having a stake of 50,76% of VW. ;-)

Greetings,
chris

 

Just hand lamborghini to Porsche please. let them be a bit more innovative with that brand (PDK in the Gallardo, etc).

 

If that was meant as a compliment then perhaps it deserves to be rephrased.

 

Looking at low sales numbers, you'd think they'd drop the Cayman.

But some think that the 911 is near the end of how far they can push a rear engine car.
While the Cayman is being held back, as to not up-stage the 911.

Could Porsche eventually do a mid-engine 911? Or maybe let the 911 turn into the luxury GT? While allowing the Cayman to grow into a more aggressive pure sports car?

VW might turn the Cayman lose, to take advantage of the mid-engine design.

Porsche/VW keep talking about a cheaper car... a new entry level model.
Because, if they take the Cayman to its full potential it will be a $100,000 car.

My favorite stories ....are how Porsche has paid-off race teams to not race the Cayman... for fear of it beating the 911. Teams considering racing the Cayman were given "deals they couldn't refuse" (race prepped 911's at special discount prices). 2010 looks like the first year we are going to see some serious teams with Caymans

VW is thinking of the larger long-term mix of products. Porsche needed to be reshuffled, so this could be a good thing. Glad to see the Cayenne and Panamera on the way out.

 

Corporate America at its best....axing something thats not even released yet.

 

Uh, you mean Corporate Germany??