Intersting times ahead?

[Chesterfield]

Porsche set to buy/control VW (and all its subsiduaries).......... again...

 

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 479366.ece

[Sarnie]

so Porsche will end up with a stake in Lamborghini???

 

seems very bizarre, the motoring industry, how can one company own another without a conflict of interests

 

Imagine Man Utd buying Liverpool and then selling all their players???

[Stew]

Well I guess there are ways around it. If the companies can still spend money then surely it'll be a huge benefit as technology will be shared.

[martinmac]

VW did all the wiring for the Porsche anyway so its pretty much a rationalisation.

[jonathan73]

I'd have thought it would have been VW buying Porsche - didn't think Porsche had the wonga to splash it about like this. Only a couple years ago the Boxster was being touted as a make or break. I guess it made!

[Digsy]

I'd have thought it would have been VW buying Porsche - didn't think Porsche had the wonga to splash it about like this. Only a couple years ago the Boxster was being touted as a make or break. I guess it made!

 

Yup, and so did that abortion the Cayenne.

[GC350z]

so Porsche will end up with a stake in Lamborghini???

 

seems very bizarre, the motoring industry, how can one company own another without a conflict of interests

 

 

Ford - Jaguar - Aston springs to mind. I could never understand that arrangement.

[Chesterfield]

so Porsche will end up with a stake in Lamborghini???

 

seems very bizarre, the motoring industry, how can one company own another without a conflict of interests

 

Imagine Man Utd buying Liverpool and then selling all their players???

 

Porsche have had a stake in VW for years, and been growing their stake in VW for years, so its not that bigger jump to find the last bit of cash (although its still fairly large compared to their annual turnover).

[Kev946]

I can remember an article I read about 15 years ago which predicted some of the major mergers of recent years, and I thought it was all speculation. Now we have just an a handful of major manufacturers. This is of course because of buyer pressure demanding better cars, which makes the development costs for a car now so high, e.g. the only way to make it economical is share the cost. This was the start of it when cars were developed jointly, remember the Honda/Rover cars, (the were great...not).

 

Anyway this is the future unfortunately. We will all be drinving almost the same car with a different body stuck on. The worry is the control they will all have in the future. The barstewards could decided to stop making performance cars and make us all drive hybrids. There's talk in this weeks MCN of a total ban on motorcycles being likely at some stage in te future.

 

All that will be left will be the specialist manufacturers making low volume cars......like Lotus funily enough but even they are part owned by GM..

[AndySpak]

It happens in most industries...

 

Lloyds and TSB

HP and Compaq

EMI and Virgin

 

It is far more common for a company to buy a rival in the same marketplace than one that operates in a completely different sector (although it does happen).

[Trev-the-Rev]

I can remember an article I read about 15 years ago which predicted some of the major mergers of recent years, and I thought it was all speculation. Now we have just an a handful of major manufacturers. This is of course because of buyer pressure demanding better cars, which makes the development costs for a car now so high, e.g. the only way to make it economical is share the cost. This was the start of it when cars were developed jointly, remember the Honda/Rover cars, (the were great...not).

 

Anyway this is the future unfortunately. We will all be drinving almost the same car with a different body stuck on. The worry is the control they will all have in the future. The barstewards could decided to stop making performance cars and make us all drive hybrids. There's talk in this weeks MCN of a total ban on motorcycles being likely at some stage in te future.

 

All that will be left will be the specialist manufacturers making low volume cars......like Lotus funily enough but even they are part owned by GM..

 

And Proton

[macca]

I can remember an article I read about 15 years ago which predicted some of the major mergers of recent years, and I thought it was all speculation. Now we have just an a handful of major manufacturers. This is of course because of buyer pressure demanding better cars, which makes the development costs for a car now so high, e.g. the only way to make it economical is share the cost. This was the start of it when cars were developed jointly, remember the Honda/Rover cars, (the were great...not).

 

Anyway this is the future unfortunately. We will all be drinving almost the same car with a different body stuck on. The worry is the control they will all have in the future. The barstewards could decided to stop making performance cars and make us all drive hybrids. There's talk in this weeks MCN of a total ban on motorcycles being likely at some stage in te future.

 

All that will be left will be the specialist manufacturers making low volume cars......like Lotus funily enough but even they are part owned by GM..

 

And Proton

 

I bought my zed through a friend who runs a Proton garage, it's only a small place. He just can't stop selling protons at the moment, says its bonkers, people can't get enough off them!

[Chesterfield]

says its bonkers, people can't get enough off them!

 

I reckon your mate just has the punctuation in the wrong place.

[H5]

I'd have thought it would have been VW buying Porsche - didn't think Porsche had the wonga to splash it about like this. Only a couple years ago the Boxster was being touted as a make or break. I guess it made!

 

Yup, and so did that abortion the Cayenne.

 

Which spawned the Toerag....