Porsche looks to the future

Gasoline hybrid technology, convergence potential, and diesels could be in store for the company.

With its burgeoning influence on the giant Volkswagen Group, it is becoming increasingly difficult to regard Porsche as a small company. While some niche auto businesses form a junior-if prestigious-part of global OEMs, Porsche is poised to become very much the senior element in the huge VW organization.

So when asked if small specialist companies like Porsche that have to face similar technology challenges to large OEMs find solutions easier or more difficult to achieve, Wolfgang Dürheimer, the company's Executive Vice President, Research and Development, said: “We do have an advantage as a small company because the decision-making process is much faster and we probably see results achieved much more quickly. And our R&D center in Weissach is capable of dealing in detail with all technical problems and to look at possibilities to meet future requirements. But generally, it is not easier being a small company because we have to meet the same legal requirements as a large OEM. Brussels [the European Commission] wants no exemption for small, niche manufacturers. That hurts us very much and demonstrates again that the pressures we face are the same as those for big OEMs; a small company spending three-digit million euros every year on R&D needs quite an effort.”