We didn’t see this one coming.
Although Porsche and Audi have broken bread at same table before, there’s been some bad blood in recent years. In 1994, the two manufacturers came together for the oh-so interesting RS2 Avant — quite possibly the station wagon of the decade. Things have been icier since.
After all the hubbub with dieselgate, Audi “lost” some high ranking members of their engineering crew, mostly due to the settlements having been (appropriately) costly. That allowed Porsche to absorb the group’s V8 development. But according to Automotive News, Volkswagen (see also: Audi) CEO Matthias Mueller is open to some friendly fraternization.
Said Mueller, in a statement: “The focus was on jointly developing shared vehicle platforms, modules and components, in a deal that follows a period of intense in-house competition for development resources. Projects will be jointly headed by representatives from each brand. In the coming months, joint teams will prepare the specific areas of cooperation and define a roadmap to 2025.”
The Avant, it was a killer. So fingers crossed they’ve got something similar in the works.
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