gavriil

Reuters / September 10, 2003

2003 Frankfurt motor show coverage


FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The luxury Audi unit of Volkswagen and Ferrari's Maserati brand said on Tuesday they had agreed on a technical and marketing cooperation.

The carmakers will look to share parts, use the same dealerships in some countries and combine their financial services activities, Ferrari-Maserati Chairman Luca di Montezemolo and VW Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder told reporters at the Frankfurt auto show.

The move was expected in part as Audi and Maserati said late last year they were in talks about a possible technical cooperation.

"There are technologies which we have that are interesting for Maserati and there are also interesting possibilities for the VW group," Pischetsrieder said.

The companies said they might share their expertise in high-power diesel engines, joint axles and transmissions.

"I think we will both gain more experience and we are looking to jointly source technology and components," Pischetsrieder said.

Montezemolo said Maserati's Kubang SUV might be an activity on which Maserati and Audi would cooperate.

He repeated Maserati would decide by the end of the year on whether to build the Kubang, which it showed at the Detroit auto show in January.

Asked if VW might be interested in taking a stake in Ferrari, Pischetsrieder replied:

"This is a technical cooperation and that is not a particularly good reason for becoming a shareholder."

soopa

whoa. weird partnership there........

Lamborghini's owner and Ferrari in bed together.

gavriil

Weird indeed. Hence me posting this here. Very interesting. That tells me that, from an expense perspective (for R&D), these 2 companies are hurting badly. And it makes sense logically. They should be hurting. It's not like Maseratis are leaving the shelves by the thousands. Same for Lambos. Even after their latest offerings, for both.

In any case....interesting after all.

gavriil

Fiat's Maserati and VW Drifting Closer
By Jim Burt


Fiat's Maserati division and Volkswagen appear to be strengthening ties, with the Italian carmaker potentially sharing the architecture or platform components of the Quattroporte saloon with VW to possibly be the basis of a Volkswagen brand premium large car that could compete with the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class. The underpinnings of such a car has also been rumored to be the basis of the next Audi A6. The Quattroporte is a rear-drive car, and could represent a departure from Volkswagen-Audi's long-time front-drive orientation. VW executives have lately hinted that Chairman and CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder is interested in rear-drive vehicles being introduced to both VW and Audi brands.

The Quattroporte sells for around 104,000 euros and is due in the U.S. this spring. The companies are looking for cooperation on multiple fronts including: Audi building the Maserati Kubang GT Wagon; Maserati getting access to Audi's Quattro technology; adding Maserati franchises to Audi franchises; and using Audi Financial Services to originate financing for Maserati vehicles. -

Source: The Car Connection

Python2121

what would audi gain from switching to rwd?

Collective27

Well im sure audi would keep awd quattro, but this indicates that they would switch there non awd models to rwd as opposed to fwd. i think that this is a great idea as fwd is best in bad weather when compaired to rwd, but they already have awd available, so why not make the other ones better for performance and make um rwd...not a bad idea if u ask me

SanMarinoTypeS

Actually Audi would be lending the All wheel drive to Maserati.

Python2121

i see no preformance or ride advantages to going rwd from awd, that would be a step backwards.

the only thing i coul see is about 10 more whp as opposed to crank hp

gavriil

A common platform shared with Maserati, so economies of scale...

Oh and the advantages and hype of RWD motoring for luxury vehicles.

gavriil

I cant imagine Audi dropping AWD. That would be unheard of and a mistake. The quatro name is a trademark for Audi at this point.

So it will be like Mercedes and BMW. RWD, or AWD with RWD bias. Same with Infiniti and soon with Cadillac. And in 35 years from now, we'll see that in Acuras

heyitsme

Honda would give theirs cars asimo legs before they went rwd. AWD hype seems to be replacing RWD hype anyways.

gavriil

Hehehehe...

Collective27

As i said, i dont see them geting rid of awd...instead, making there fwd cars rwd...this makes sence to me.