25 What's the relationship between VW, Audi and Porsche?
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This article is from the Watercooled VWs General FAQ, by Jan Vandenbrande with numerous contributions by others.
25 What's the relationship between VW, Audi and Porsche?
A: VW and Audi are under the same company whose name is
"Volkswagen Audi Gesellschaft" (VAG).
They have separate research departments, separate assembly plants,
but do share parts, engines and cars (US VW Quantum == Audi) on occasion.
The original version of the Polo were actually made by Audi
called the Audi 50. The basic 1500/1600 now 1800 cc block is also
from the former Audi 80.
In Europe it is not uncommon to have both dealers that sell and
service both VWs and Audis (and sometimes also Porsches).
In North America the two (three) are usually separate.
Regarding VW & Porsche (From Tom H.):
There are no ownership arrangements -- the two companies are essentially
separate. There is, however, a lot of co-operation, as Porsche does
consulting work for VW, and Porsche has some access to the VW parts bins.
VW has also built some 914s, 924s and 944s for Porsche, and Porsche is
to build the Audi 80 RS2 for VW.
And of course Ferdinand Porsche designed the Beetle while running a
design office in the 30s -- and Ferdinand Piech, the current CEO of
Volkswagen AG, is his grandson.
The relationship was much closer yet in the early years of VW and
Porsche, when Heinz Nordhoff was running VW: this is when the 914 was
conceived as a VW-Porsche. When Nordhoff died (in 12 April 1968), the new CEO
(Dr Kurz Lotz, replaced on October 1 1971 by Rudolf Leiding)
did not want to honour all of Nordhoff's verbal
agreements with Porsche. As a result, the relationship soured somewhat
-- and the 914 was significantly more expensive than originally planned.
One of the best books relating the VW/Porsche relationship is _Excellence_
_was_Expected_ (which is primarily a Porsche book; alas, it's most certainly
not cheap.
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