Touareg Troubles
Porsche, VW clash over product plans

By HENNING KROGH | Link to Original Article @ AutoWeek | Updated: 06/19/07, 9:57 am et

WOLFSBURG, Germany -- After taking its major stake in Volkswagen AG, sports car manufacturer Porsche AG is pushing to speed up the companies' joint projects.

That confirms many VW shareholders' fears that Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking wants to increase Porsche's influence over VW product planning. He has been a member of the VW supervisory board since 2006.

A dispute is looming over the introduction of the next-generation Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg. The two companies again are developing the large SUVs in close cooperation.

According to information from both companies, Porsche wants to launch the next Cayenne during the first half of 2010. Meanwhile, the startup for the Touareg II is planned for late 2010.

As VW sees it, that puts VW at a disadvantage.

"We aren't at all pleased with a significantly longer model life for the current Touareg compared to the Cayenne," a high-ranking VW executive told Automobilwoche, a German publication of Crain Communications. "After all, the vehicles are in competition with one another."

At Porsche, one executive says, this doesn't bode well: "If we can't come to an agreement at the level of the working teams, the CEOs will have to hammer this out."

VW and Porsche introduced the first generations of the SUVs almost simultaneously in late 2002. They are built in Leipzig, Germany, and Bratislava, Slovakia.

The Porsche, however capable it may be, is ugly, and is a blasphemy in the lineup.

The Porsche, however capable it may be, is ugly, and is a blasphemy in the lineup.

Hear, hear. And the fuel milage on both is horrendous. And living in an upscale town like Annapolis, Md, I see more Cayennes than Touaregs. And thats a shame. Remember the mystique and luck you had if you saw a Porsche? They need to cut out that 'mainstream' BS, and VW needs to cut out that 'luxo' BS. It's as if the world is topsy turvy.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo many Cayenne's I see are the base model ones with the smaller wheels, and the slow, crappy V6 (which has been replaced, I understand).

Yeah... I agree is used to be something special to see a Porsche... but now it's so Ho-Hum...

And my neighbour next door won't stop complaining about her Tourag, and its crappy fuel economy.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo many Cayenne's I see are the base model ones with the smaller wheels, and the slow, crappy V6 (which has been replaced, I understand).

Yeah... I agree is used to be something special to see a Porsche... but now it's so Ho-Hum...

And my neighbour next door won't stop complaining about her Tourag, and its crappy fuel economy.

Cayenne may have made Porsche profitable, but I certainly think it diluted their image. You see them on every corner of the road, and as you mentioned with the base V-6 or the middle range V-8. Turbos are rarity.

Cayenne may have made Porsche profitable, but I certainly think it diluted their image. You see them on every corner of the road, and as you mentioned with the base V-6 or the middle range V-8. Turbos are rarity.

I've never been much of fan of production Porsches (Carrera GT excluded), but I would think they'd rather have a diluted image than take the "we don't make boxes" high road and end up with an uncertain future like Jaguar.

Porsche special? Let's not act like they're Ferrari. This is, after all, the company that gave us the 914 and 924. They just now charge six figures for everything they make. But you see one on the street every single day regardless.