Filed under: Diesel, Hybrid, Porsche, Volkswagen, Legislation and Policy, Europe/EU, Germany
Porsche could evade emissions penalties via VW takeover
Over the last year or so, Porsche has been grabbing chunks of Volkswagen, slowly but surely. It is clear what the German manufacturer of luxurious sportscars is attempting: a takeover of VW, which is the largest automaker in Germany. There are still laws and regulations standing it its way, but Porsche may have the backing of the European Union, which could have the power to change laws currently protecting Volkswagen from a takeover. It has long been assumed that Porsche's plan was to lump its products along with the more fuel efficient models from VW, which could allow the company to avoid paying large fines for not meeting carbon output regulations.
As it stands right now, Porsche seemingly has no choice but to offer more fuel efficient and lower emission models. To that end, it has announced hybrid versions of its Cayenne and upcoming Panamera sedan. Also possible is a diesel engine for its utility vehicle. By gobbling up Volkswagen, Porsche could dial back on these fuel-saving models and get back to its high performance ways without fear of excessive penalties.
[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
steven 4:47PM (6/17/2008)
This in kinda like the reverse of Tata. They maybe getting stuck with US fines for Jag and Land Rover because they don't sell any high mileage cars in the US to offset the poor mileage of their new acquisitions. Ford was able to cover the more MPG up with their smaller US vehicles.
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pmgpmg 5:57PM (6/17/2008)
If the Porche take over cannot happen soon, there is still a possibility for Porche to build there own Golf-entry model:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/06/porsche-developing-a-golf-killer/
Please explain how the emission ratio is computed?
Since the same car can get various engines:
Is it based on [the total number of each type of engine produced] multiplied by [the the CO2 for each engine of that type] and divided by [the total number of engines]?
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rajat 2:02PM (8/02/2008)
History of VW and Porsche have a common origin, when first Volkswagen was created by the engineer Austrian Ferdinand Porsche, who later founded Porsche AG (German sports car manufacturing unit) in 1931. So this is one of its kinds of reunion of families. Management capabilities of Porsche might be very good at running a niche car company but running a small company is entirely a different business than running one of the world’s largest car companies ... read more on http://www.wheelsontrack.com
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