Quote:
Originally Posted by robg
Indeed. I guess they charge high enough prices to cover the cost and give themselves a nice margin though... To take it to an extreme, Ferrari only produces a few thousand vehicles a year and is one of the most profitable car brands. So it can be done...for a price.
My guess is that Porsche/VW group have determined that there are certain things that need to remain exclusive to the brand such as flat engines. FWIW, the 4.0L engine in the 718 GTS is derived from the same 9A2 engine that's found in turbocharged form in the 911 range. And even the flat 4 engine is derived from the same architecture; so I suppose they get some economies of scale (though not much). Here's an press release from Porsche that talks about the shared underpinnings of their current flat engines: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2020...394-20340.html |
It’s obvious that the SUVs and the Panamera are the badge wh0re cars. So they repurpose VAG engines. And mint money.
That written, I love the Macan for what it is. Does all of the things well that are dealbreakers for me in other utility vehicles. Handles okay. Is aerodynamic. Brakes are meh but not terrible. And the engine is okay. 3rd gear might be geared too widely, or the engine has no guts (or both) but accelerating from 65 to 90mph is the one place where I’m reminded it has a very basic engine. I’m sure the Macan S/GTS would solve for that, but it’s not worth the extra $40-50,000 to me. Because. It’s still just a Macan.
Thanks for the link for the boxer engine architecture.