Piech's Privileged Porsche Plans

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt
Germany’s Handelsblatt received rare access to the usually secretive Porsche patriarch Piech. The Chairman of the Volkswagen Supervisory Board has big plans for his family’s company once Porsche has been assimilated. Here is an excerpt from his list of Porsche Plans:
  • Porsche will get a smaller SUV, below the Cayenne, to compete with the likes of the BMW X5, Mercedes M-Class, but also with some Audi Qs …
  • Then, a planned Volkswagen sports car of unknown type will emerge as a Porsche. Nobody has approved this, but what Piech wants, Piech gets.
  • The hybrid 918 Spyder shall go in series production. If necessary, built by hand, and priced at €500,000. Piech wants it that way.
  • To make sure that Piech gets what he wants, his and Winterkorn’s confidante Michael Müller will definitely head up Porsche.
And what’s holding up an announcement of at least some of the plans? The state of Lower Saxony holds the famous 20 percent in Volkswagen, and Lower Saxony’s Premier Christian Wulff will most likely be the next President of Germany. (A job with less power than the Queen of England. The final say-so in Germany rests with the Chancellor, Frau Merkel.) When Wulff is elected on June 30, there will be a vacancy on the board. That will be filled by David McAllister, a good German with a British name. That needs to be papered first. Any grand announcements will not happen until this is done. But what Piech wants, Piech gets.
Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Brian E Brian E on Jun 25, 2010

    Production 918? New 924? No mention of a new 928, but I'll take it.

  • Fred Talmadge Fred Talmadge on Jun 25, 2010

    A Porsche SUV to compete with Audi, piss off VW by giving their product to Porsche. Sounds like a future GM mess.

  • Blowfish Blowfish on Jun 25, 2010

    Can always rebrand another Veedub, most of the buyers from Middle Kingdom cant tell whats inside, or just shoe-horn another Porsche 400 HP engine in it.Just like a Kleptomaniac that'l take anything as long as didnt have to pay for it. To build a new smaller Porsche will make very little money sense, kind of good money chae after bad money. Afterall how many times to re-invent the wheel?

  • Jkross22 Jkross22 on Jun 25, 2010

    After viewing the picture, I found myself, interested, more interested, more interested, even more interested and then, not interested at all.

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