While I can see danger for the R8, the R/S/RS 4/5/6 will be safe as they don't compete with any of Porsche's current lineup, and even when the Panamera is released, I imagine that'll be positioned well above any of them.

The car I see most at risk from this is the Lambo Gallardo. What with the R8 and various 911 models, Porsche might decide to push Lambo up market, getting rid of the entry level car and concentrate on Murcielago class cars

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no danger for any perfromance model.. you never hurt the hand that feeds you!

The largest part of the money that Porsche earns comes via their stocks of Volkswagen AG and the giant win Volkswagen AG makes since many years... and inside the Volkswagen AG, Audi is the largest money making mashine... cutting of prestige models from Audi would be for Porsche like throwing away their own money or cutting off their own models.

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I disagree! Porsche has always been against VW's or audi's plans to built performance cars.

I can see Porsche trying to halt the expansion of Audi's RS and R programs, use their weight saving construction methods and fuel saving tech for themselves while also cutting jobs. Keeping jobs is a must at a time when world markets are slowing.

Furthermore, I doubt the upcoming V10 R8 would consider a 911 GT3 as its father!

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To - Stevereportdotcom: "When you buy an Audi, its just a dressed up VW"

That statement alone makes it clear you have never driven an Audi. For one, the A4/A6/A8 and upcoming Q5 share their own Audi chassis - independent of ANY VW. Second, Audi uses it's own factories which are also independent. No Audi cars are built in Mexico or even the U.S. (for now). I have nothing against VWs (I own one) but lets be real, they re not at Audi's luxury or sport level. You may be able to argue that statement with the A3 or possibly TT, but even the TT uses many upgraded features such as an aluminum body frame (different than steel of VW) among many other obvious changes. Until VW makes an S8, R8, S5, or RS competitior, case closed.

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@Dave Peterson:

That statement shows that you know little about VW/Audi platforms.

Q7 and Touareg share the 7L platform.
A3/TT/Q3 share the same A5 platform as the mk5 golf/jetta/tiguan
Through 2005, the A4 and Passat shared the same B1-B5 platforms, although the Passat has migrated to an enlarged A5 platform.
And the Phaeton shared a similiar platform with the A8...the only difference was that the A8 had an aluminum chassis, versus a steel chassis in the phaeton. However, the bentley continental was the identical chassis to the phaeton.

It should also be noted that VW has intentionally lowered build quality on the mk5 vehicles to artificially create a gap between VW and Audi.

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@outphase84

better get your facts together befor posting Bulls...

VW Touareg
Type 7L platform

Audi Q7
Type 4L platform

TT A3 Golf Tiguan Q3 Leon Octavia Toledo Touran Caddy
PQ35 platform

Audi A4 since 2000
PL46 B6 platform 2000-2005
PL46 B7 platform 2005-2008
MLB platform 2008 - still in use

Passat since 2000
PL45 B5 platform till 2000
PL45 B5.5 platform (a updated B5 platfrom) 2000-2005
PQ46 platform (PQ46 is an enlarged version of the PQ35 for mid-size vehicles) from 2005 - still in use

The biggest joke is to claim that Pheaton and A8 share a similar platform.. good boy you realy know nothing about cars..

Pheaton
D1 platform shared only with some Bentley models (Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur)

Audi A8
D2 platform till 2003
D3 platform since 2003
The D2 and D3 are Audi space frame chassies and have absolutly nothing to do with the D1 platfrom of the Pheaton

since 2000 the only platfrom shared and that in a highly modified way between VW and Audi is the PQ35 platfrom

since 2000 A4, A5, Q5, R8, A8, A6, S4, RS4, S6, RS6, S8, Q7 are build on platfroms only used by Audi...

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It's lower than today's trading value, but it's no typo: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NSU.DE

And I agree that people are likely hugely overreacting to the future prospects for Audi's high-performance models. Even if they did compete directly with Porsche's products (which they largely don't), they serve a crucial role in placing Audi in the consumer's mind as a credible alternative to BMW or Mercedes. The RS cars give real credibility to Audi's higher volume sport sedans, and for that reason alone I think we can expect them to continue.

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So you missed the whing from Porsche about the use of the R in models, especially they wanted to call a new audi a TT RS. Porsche will not want cars competing with their cars. R8 and the Bugatti will all wave out. Lambo may have issues. VW had no issue with models that were in similar categories, but Porsche will have none of it. They aren't smart enough to embrace them all.

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@ ericdj

That issue about the TT RS was not regarding Audi's building a high performance TT, it was the use of the "RS" letters as a suffix as opposed to a prefix. Had Audi called it the RS TT, it wouldn't have had an issue, but Porsche uses the RS letters as a suffix (ie GT3 RS)

I don't see Porsche wanting to kill any models from Audi or Lamborghini providing that those models make money. Both Audi and Lamborghini are profitable, so Porsche won't have a problem. CEO Wiedeking has said as much in reports

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I'd go to Porsche if I wanted advice about derivatives trading, not running the largest car company in Europe.

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