2013 - Porsche Boxster on 2040-cars

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Porsche GT division rules out AWD, SUVs

Any German automaker worth its lap times needs a performance division. Mercedes has AMG, BMW has the M division, Audi has Quattro GmbH with its S and RS models... even Volkswagen has its R line of hot hatches. And though Porsche is a performance automaker unto itself, even it has a performance division. It's called Porsche GT, and though it's been branching outside the 911 range lately, don't expect it to wander too far. According to Car and Driver, which spoke recently with Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger and R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz, there are limits to what the division will do. And while those limits may have been broadened to include technologies like turbocharging and dual-clutch transmissions, they won't stretch as far as all-wheel drive. Take a look at the previous-generation 997 and what separated the 911 GT2 from the 911 Turbo was principally its all-wheel-drive system. Porsche GT isn't planning on doing a GT2 this time around – the new GT3 RS occupying that territory on its own – but the next generation (whether it wears the number 2 or 3) will likely go turbo along with most of the rest of the 911 family. The exclusion of all-wheel drive from the Porsche GT parts bin also means that the division won't be taking on the company's SUVs like the Cayenne and Macan. So the Cayenne GTS will be as extreme as it gets, taking on the likes of the BMW X5 M, Mercedes GL63 and Audi SQ5 without the help of Zuffenhausen's racing department. We can't expect the PDK to stick around though, so to speak. Though the new Cayman GT4 packs a manual transmission, the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS have dual-clutch gearboxes. Moving forward, Preuninger says they'll leave it up to prospective customers to decide which type of transmission they'll build into their most extreme performance models.

Audi CEO says brand's EVs are almost as profitable as its other cars

After, oh, a hundred years or so of building vehicles primarily powered by internal combustion engines, automakers around the world have been and still are pumping billions of dollars into the development of electric vehicle technology. Everything from platforms and batteries to motors and the software to control it all requires untold hours of development, and that takes time and money. Fortunately, it's not going to take long for that massive investment to start paying off, at least according to Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who told Reuters in an interview that "The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices." As a brand, Audi contributed more than a quarter of overall profit for the massive Volkswagen Group, which has such powerhouse brands as Volkswagen and Porsche among others. Under the Audi umbrella are Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, and it seems those high-end branches aren't going anywhere, at least for now. "These brands ... are very valuable very profitable brands, where we can even expand the synergy level in the future," Duesmann said in the interview. "There are no plans whatsoever to get rid of them." Despite the overall profitability of the brand, the ongoing global chip crisis is causing headaches. "We had a very strong first half in 2021. We do expect a much weaker second half," said Duesmann, who added, "We really have trouble." In fact, so serious is the trouble that the brand is forced into "a day-to-day troubleshooting process" to limit the chip-shortage damage. The good news for the automaker is that Audi has been able to boost its profit margin from 8% prior to the pandemic in 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2021. The bad news is that various chip shortages aren't expected to get a whole lot better over the rest of the year. Related video:

Porsche 918 Spyder gets tiny recall for rear control arms

As the recent US recall of a single Koenigsegg Agera shows, even low-production supercars aren't immune from safety campaigns. Now, there's another example that even the fastest cars can have their faults. The Porsche 918 Spyder is a pretty fantastic vehicle for its ability to mix hybrid fuel economy and incredible amounts of power, but Porsche has a problem on a few units of its halo model.
According to the recall document from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Porsche needs to inspect and possibly repair five 918s in the US because the rear axle control arms may break, which could cause a loss of control while driving. In the full defect notice, Porsche says that it first noticed the problem on June 26 when the parts failed during "heavy duty durability testing (extreme race conditions)" at the Nardo test track in Italy. It transported the components back to the company's lab for inspection, and on July 18 it issued a stop-sale to inspect the suspension parts on the supercar. The automaker also contacted owners by phone to warn them not to use the car on track, until repaired.
The affected 918s will be inspected, and if the cars have the bad parts, the control arms are will be replaced. Obviously, this will be done at no cost to owners. According to a Porsche spokesperson speaking to Autoblog, in addition to the five US cars potentially affected, there were 45 worldwide. All of the cars have now been checked. Scroll down to read the report from the regulator or download the full defect notice as a PDF, here.