Sports car specialist Porsche and their new owners Volkswagen AG are likely to come to a broad based agreement within the next six months that would sort out issues pertaining to sharing of platforms as well as cooperation on technical grounds.
CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Detlev von Platen has revealed in an interview that wide ranging discussions on these topics are currently on but is skeptical of reaching a conclusive understanding anytime soon. Von Platen said the talks are centered around reaching a synergy in areas such as research and development.
It will be interesting that both the companies actually share a platform for the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne SUVs. However, Porsche is concerned with meeting its growth projections, more so while complying with the strict fuel economy standards prevalent in the US.
Porsche has set itself a goal of making 150,000 car sales within the next 5 years from the 75,000 cars that the company sold last year. Von Platen believes there will be a rise in Porsche’s sales in the US which is slated to be anything between 50,000 to 60,000 cars every year. He is of the opinion that for Porsche to realize the growth target, it will need to have more products in its portfolio. Porsche’s recorded its highest sales in the US in 2007 when it had managed to sell 34,693 cars. However, its sales plummeted 24 percent last year to just 19,696 vehicles.
