Should car makers share the same platforms if they are sister companies???

After just reading that Porsche may share the Audi R8 platform to challenge the Ferrari 458 one thing sprung to mind.

Wrong.

Just because it's easier to borrow parts and share platforms for different models, isn't right in my opinion.

Credit where it's due, both Audi and Porsche are great manufactures in their own right. They've risen through the ranks to be great car makers on their own. So why can't they continue on their own? To me (and I accept Ferrari are one of the best supercar makers, but I'm not a fan) it’s cheating to be better!
Porsche within their own rights make physics-defying cars (I mean, the engines behind the rear axle, seriously, it takes some phenomenal engineering to make that work, and work as good as they have!) Just as Audi have one of the best 4wd system’s known to man. It’s all down to each company concentrating on their areas more than focusing on others.

So why are they doing this? Are they being lazy? Having the option of digging in Audi's parts bin to use what they can? I mean it's not like the Audi Group haven't done this before. Take a look at Lamborghini's 4wd system and its all Audi.

After taking a second to think about it and stepping back to look at things, is this strategic? Is this the group's way of being the world-dominant car manufacturer they want to be? Clearly it is; they want to be number 1 and they'll do it, (strategically, the analysts and people at the top will make it happen!) But does this strategic move show how good of a manufacturer they are? Pushing one manufacturer to be the fore-front in a selected range is absurd. I mean, why push one and not the other? Both Audi and Porsche should be equal as both are capable (ok, Porsche has been doing it longer, but you can’t say Audi hasn’t shown they can do it) of producing a world leading car in the supercar battle (one that usually starts and stays around the shores of Italy.) just like you can’t say that Koenigsegg haven’t produced a car that can do just as well. It’s all relative. There isn’t one company that is the best supercar maker in the world. And that’s because of the people that drive them. One will say x manufacturer is better due to reasons x y and z, whilst someone else will say the same about another. It’s all down to the individual. It’s exactly the same reasons why I would say I’d rather have a Nissan GTR, whilst the wife would say the R8 is the best in the world. It’s all down to preference.

Pushing one company to do things over another is ridiculous.

Sharing platforms or parts is just a cheats way of building cars. Manufacturers should stay seperate and continue to produce their own cars. They started out on their own, so why not continue? is it a strategic move, or is it cutting corners?

To me, its a bit of both.

For a company to strategize how they will "rule the world" isn't right. For me to be the best car manufacturer, it has to stem all the way down to the people at the bottom. The people who go to work proud to be part of a company, the love of it. Part being the key word. But not just a person who Clocks in, does a shift and goes home. This shows in the cars they make.


But this begs to ask another question, is there any of the major manufacturers left who still have a soul and don't care about Global Dominance???

This question, I'll come back to...

The Custom Scene

Last year I commented on how people don't really seem to personalise their cars these days and how it's not about individuality anymore, but more of a brag that "My car does this", and "my car does that" but after checking out SEMA this year I realised it's now a bit of both.

People still customise cars for individual tastes, but I think that nowadays there’s a part of people that makes them want to brag. A kind of “go on, I dare you to look under the hood”

To me it’s a little strange how someone just doesn’t care about a car they are building, but they just go at it to be the best, which is fine, but where’s the “I did it cos I felt like doing it” kind of attitude?

Why are people so quick to want to boast and scream at the top of their lungs about how good their car is? I mean, if you go back to the original days of customising, it was done for the love of one’s car; the pride they took in it and not caring what the next guy did.

Now I’m not saying this is true throughout the tuner world, because there really is the guys out there, that do things for themselves, (if you look at the Japanese car culture with the VIP’s, Bosozoku movements, cars who some might call ugly, but to the owners, its their life and soul represented truly by their cars) no matter what people might think.

These are the guys that I admire. Not for what they have done, but what they truly stand by. Their cars. Now I may not like a modified car I come across, but I won’t knock it either. Its fair play if you build something that YOU love and enjoy on a regular basis.

As with the fashion industry, one’s style of clothing might not be for another, but if the person wearing the clothing feels at their best, then that’s all that matters. It’s exactly the same in the tuner world. You “wear” your car, in a way of it makes you feel good driving, spending hours meticulously working on it, cleaning it, to a vision you call perfection.

So is there still a tuner world that only does things for themselves and doesn’t care about what the world will say?

Yes. And thank god there is.

I'm Back!

After a long time, I am back blogging!

I almost forgot about about tihs blog until last week whilst I was looking over the antics of car makers at SEMA.

I'll also be updating the Dune Concept I started last year, now although much hasnt changed since last year, I have found a guy who can help push the design further and will hopefully be a finished concept design within the next few months!

So I'll be back posting regularly and hope you enjoy the read!