[opinion] - hmmm…VW/Audi/Porsche may be in trouble…

[Vim Schrotnock]

I don't want to be too much of a downer, but I believe the era of cars being bought for 'performance' (as we enthusiasts think of it) is coming to an end. EV's will become the car of choice, and they all (eventually) will be self-driving. You'll just tell the car where you want to go, and it will take you there. They will be primarily software controlled, with all sorts of features to keep you entertained/informed/working during your trip. This isn't a completely terrible thing - look around on the road at the other drivers... A large number are looking at their phone instead of concentrating on driving, and that behavior is only going to increase. Self-driving cars will at least be safe, and overall will decrease the level of anxiety on the road. When I come off a few days on the track, it takes me a while to adjust to the absolute chaos on the public roads, where most people just don't have any idea how to drive.

So, where does this leave Porsche? I think in the short/medium term, they will have to cut production significantly and downsize. I just don't see them, or any legacy car company having much chance of surviving in the EV age. ICE cars will pretty much go away, and yes, there may be a few 'enthusiasts' that want to drive these 'high performance' cars through the moving pylons that will be self-driving EV's, but they won't survive very long into the future.

OK, I know I said I didn't want to be a downer, but now I'm depressed...

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[69Mach390]

I don't want to be too much of a downer, but I believe the era of cars being bought for 'performance' (as we enthusiasts think of it) is coming to an end. EV's will become the car of choice, and they all (eventually) will be self-driving. You'll just tell the car where you want to go, and it will take you there. They will be primarily software controlled, with all sorts of features to keep you entertained/informed/working during your trip. This isn't a completely terrible thing - look around on the road at the other drivers... A large number are looking at their phone instead of concentrating on driving, and that behavior is only going to increase. Self-driving cars will at least be safe, and overall will decrease the level of anxiety on the road. When I come off a few days on the track, it takes me a while to adjust to the absolute chaos on the public roads, where most people just don't have any idea how to drive.

So, where does this leave Porsche? I think in the short/medium term, they will have to cut production significantly and downsize. I just don't see them, or any legacy car company having much chance of surviving in the EV age. ICE cars will pretty much go away, and yes, there may be a few 'enthusiasts' that want to drive these 'high performance' cars through the moving pylons that will be self-driving EV's, but they won't survive very long into the future.

OK, I know I said I didn't want to be a downer, but now I'm depressed...

The future as predicted by Wall-E….

I think as long as people have disposable income, there will be a market for fun cars.

 

[whitex]

I don't want to be too much of a downer, but I believe the era of cars being bought for 'performance' (as we enthusiasts think of it) is coming to an end. EV's will become the car of choice, and they all (eventually) will be self-driving. You'll just tell the car where you want to go, and it will take you there. They will be primarily software controlled, with all sorts of features to keep you entertained/informed/working during your trip. This isn't a completely terrible thing - look around on the road at the other drivers... A large number are looking at their phone instead of concentrating on driving, and that behavior is only going to increase. Self-driving cars will at least be safe, and overall will decrease the level of anxiety on the road. When I come off a few days on the track, it takes me a while to adjust to the absolute chaos on the public roads, where most people just don't have any idea how to drive.

So, where does this leave Porsche? I think in the short/medium term, they will have to cut production significantly and downsize. I just don't see them, or any legacy car company having much chance of surviving in the EV age. ICE cars will pretty much go away, and yes, there may be a few 'enthusiasts' that want to drive these 'high performance' cars through the moving pylons that will be self-driving EV's, but they won't survive very long into the future.

OK, I know I said I didn't want to be a downer, but now I'm depressed...

Self-driving and EV are not coupled at all, you can have self-driving ICE cars just the same as EVs. They are linked in people's minds because of Tesla, and because EV's represent latest generation electronics on cars, but they really are not linked.

As for driving through moving self-driving pylons, that will only be a temporary state of affairs. First, as the percentage of self-driving pylons increases above even 5%, the entire traffic ends up being regulated by those (they act as rolling blockades, which by the way a few studies have shown decently increases the throughput and efficiency of highways). Second, once the percentage is high enough, there will be more and more self-driving only highways, where additional efficiencies can be realized, such as reduced separation, tighter car2car coordination (think cars able to travel inches apart, no need for traffic lights as self-driving cars could interweave with each other through the intersections). Non-self-driving cars will eventually get banned from most highways like horses drawn vehicles are banned today.

 

[chun]

I don't want to be too much of a downer, but I believe the era of cars being bought for 'performance' (as we enthusiasts think of it) is coming to an end. EV's will become the car of choice, and they all (eventually) will be self-driving. You'll just tell the car where you want to go, and it will take you there. They will be primarily software controlled, with all sorts of features to keep you entertained/informed/working during your trip. This isn't a completely terrible thing - look around on the road at the other drivers... A large number are looking at their phone instead of concentrating on driving, and that behavior is only going to increase. Self-driving cars will at least be safe, and overall will decrease the level of anxiety on the road. When I come off a few days on the track, it takes me a while to adjust to the absolute chaos on the public roads, where most people just don't have any idea how to drive.

So, where does this leave Porsche? I think in the short/medium term, they will have to cut production significantly and downsize. I just don't see them, or any legacy car company having much chance of surviving in the EV age. ICE cars will pretty much go away, and yes, there may be a few 'enthusiasts' that want to drive these 'high performance' cars through the moving pylons that will be self-driving EV's, but they won't survive very long into the future.

OK, I know I said I didn't want to be a downer, but now I'm depressed...

It definitely sells in china, self driving. The more performant, the better. People literally look at the generation of the chips used in the cars.

That being said, manufacturers still push for performance in china. Just like ice cars, most Chinese brands have performance EVs that are being tested at the nurburing all the same

 

[whitex]

That being said, manufacturers still push for performance in china. Just like ice cars, most Chinese brands have performance EVs that are being tested at the nurburing all the same

Yea, but are they testing self-driving at the ring?

 

[Tooney]

A global brand but local cars is Audi’s future, says CEO
One of the defining car industry trends of the early 21st century was the global, or world, car. Spread the development costs out across multiple markets, the thinking went, and efficiency takes care of the rest. At least that was the idea; post-COVID, post-Ever Given, and in a world now erupting into trade wars and actual shooting wars, plans need to change.
. . .
“We definitely will be able to keep Europe and the US together when it comes to products. And we will do that by listening more carefully to US customers, because I learned that earlier in my career, that’s no problem in Europe to have a product that’s perfect for the US, but sometimes it’s the other way around a little bit difficult, which is absolutely alright,” he said.

Euro and American tastes intersect enough that most models will be shared. China is a different story. “We definitely see that we need more local for local in China, and I believe that we need regional-specific solutions and definitely a local production system. And that would be great if I would be able to implement that setup for Audi to have a future-resistant setup for the brand, especially in the US,” he said.

“Having been to China two weeks ago on Beijing motor show, it’s crystal clear that the global car for the era of the global product is over. We will need also China-specific solutions from the ecosystem, from the supply chain, from the production system, much more than we have in the past to be successful in China. And that’s also an opportunity to have the European and North Americans even more specific to the climates in these regions,” he explained.

 

[chun]

A global brand but local cars is Audi’s future, says CEO
One of the defining car industry trends of the early 21st century was the global, or world, car. Spread the development costs out across multiple markets, the thinking went, and efficiency takes care of the rest. At least that was the idea; post-COVID, post-Ever Given, and in a world now erupting into trade wars and actual shooting wars, plans need to change.
. . .
“We definitely will be able to keep Europe and the US together when it comes to products. And we will do that by listening more carefully to US customers, because I learned that earlier in my career, that’s no problem in Europe to have a product that’s perfect for the US, but sometimes it’s the other way around a little bit difficult, which is absolutely alright,” he said.

Euro and American tastes intersect enough that most models will be shared. China is a different story. “We definitely see that we need more local for local in China, and I believe that we need regional-specific solutions and definitely a local production system. And that would be great if I would be able to implement that setup for Audi to have a future-resistant setup for the brand, especially in the US,” he said.

“Having been to China two weeks ago on Beijing motor show, it’s crystal clear that the global car for the era of the global product is over. We will need also China-specific solutions from the ecosystem, from the supply chain, from the production system, much more than we have in the past to be successful in China. And that’s also an opportunity to have the European and North Americans even more specific to the climates in these regions,” he explained.

because I learned that earlier in my career, that’s no problem in Europe to have a product that’s perfect for the US, but sometimes it’s the other way around a little bit difficult, which is absolutely alright

I think he'll have a surprise when he finds out massive USA SUV/Trucks with an audi badge will in fact be a problematic sell in europe

In switzerland, as it is a small country with a big amount of farms, i see every now and again a USA truck - that's illegal in EU, but not in switzerland. And they can never fit in underground parkings, they can barely fit within the road lines, and they are a menace in every city.

If anything, EU & Chinese taste interesect a lot more. There's a reason German cars used to sell so well in China, and American cars used to and still do sell like shit in China - excluding Tesla, which is made in china for china.

To me this is more of what BMW already implemented with the new IX3 EV.
In europe & USA they released it with cheap plastic interiors and worse self driving at 2x the price. In china, they released it with premium leather interiors and with much superior self driving, at half the price.

So their thinking goes: we can continue to sell overpriced crap to EU & USA, which will allow us to sell better cars in china at competitive prices. Not sure what makes them think EU & USA prefer crap cars, especially when the chinese are brining their cars to EU.

 

[snstevens]

A global brand but local cars is Audi’s future, says CEO
One of the defining car industry trends of the early 21st century was the global, or world, car. Spread the development costs out across multiple markets, the thinking went, and efficiency takes care of the rest. At least that was the idea; post-COVID, post-Ever Given, and in a world now erupting into trade wars and actual shooting wars, plans need to change.
. . .
“We definitely will be able to keep Europe and the US together when it comes to products. And we will do that by listening more carefully to US customers, because I learned that earlier in my career, that’s no problem in Europe to have a product that’s perfect for the US, but sometimes it’s the other way around a little bit difficult, which is absolutely alright,” he said.

Euro and American tastes intersect enough that most models will be shared. China is a different story. “We definitely see that we need more local for local in China, and I believe that we need regional-specific solutions and definitely a local production system. And that would be great if I would be able to implement that setup for Audi to have a future-resistant setup for the brand, especially in the US,” he said.

“Having been to China two weeks ago on Beijing motor show, it’s crystal clear that the global car for the era of the global product is over. We will need also China-specific solutions from the ecosystem, from the supply chain, from the production system, much more than we have in the past to be successful in China. And that’s also an opportunity to have the European and North Americans even more specific to the climates in these regions,” he explained.

On second reading, this sounds even more insightful to me. The idea that you could create a vehicle that is equally successful in every market doesn’t even make sense.

By focusing on the needs and desires of buyers North America in Europe Audi & Porsche have the opportunity to focus and succeed in a way that is independent of China and certainly more cost-effective. I think this is particularly true for a luxury brand.

 

[Fish Fingers]

I don't want to be too much of a downer, but I believe the era of cars being bought for 'performance' (as we enthusiasts think of it) is coming to an end. EV's will become the car of choice, and they all (eventually) will be self-driving. You'll just tell the car where you want to go, and it will take you there. They will be primarily software controlled, with all sorts of features to keep you entertained/informed/working during your trip. This isn't a completely terrible thing - look around on the road at the other drivers... A large number are looking at their phone instead of concentrating on driving, and that behavior is only going to increase. Self-driving cars will at least be safe, and overall will decrease the level of anxiety on the road. When I come off a few days on the track, it takes me a while to adjust to the absolute chaos on the public roads, where most people just don't have any idea how to drive.

So, where does this leave Porsche? I think in the short/medium term, they will have to cut production significantly and downsize. I just don't see them, or any legacy car company having much chance of surviving in the EV age. ICE cars will pretty much go away, and yes, there may be a few 'enthusiasts' that want to drive these 'high performance' cars through the moving pylons that will be self-driving EV's, but they won't survive very long into the future.

OK, I know I said I didn't want to be a downer, but now I'm depressed...

My thoughts exactly.....
And quite relieved to know the current standard of driver is not utter 5hite just in the UK!

I spend half my time willing the day when the majority of utter pillocks on the road end up in self driving car.

At least it will be in the correct lane and know how to indicate.
And it won't be sat at a traffic light texting when the lights have turned green.

The fact we no longer have many Police patrols means people feel they can just get away with driving however they want nowadays (apart from speed cameras).

 

[SoccerMan94043]

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/first-drive-2027-xiaomi-su7-ultra

 

[Mr.Smith]

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/first-drive-2027-xiaomi-su7-ultra

Its almost worth importing it and paying the 100% tariff

 

[SoccerMan94043]

It still has to be fixed when problems arise so pretty risky to import it unless you can do that kind of thing yourself. I remember the first few people who bought a Tesla who lived in Hawaii. Had to ship it back to the states for issues (and there were many in the original Model S). Deep pockets I guess.

Maybe there is some hope of a partnership with a more traditional, US approved car manufacturer in the future though. Seems like that's the only way to compete now.

 

[chun]

Its almost worth importing it and paying the 100% tariff

That's what people in Trukey, newest fastest EV growing market in europe, and Bulgaria, are actually doing. It's "full" of Xiaomi, when you take into account that all of them are imported straight from China.
No problems reported by people. You do need a charging adaptor, and the self driving doesn't work.

https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/27/xiaomi-leads-chinese-ev-direct-imports-to-europe/

 

[Mr.Smith]

That's what people in Trukey, newest fastest EV growing market in europe, and Bulgaria, are actually doing. It's "full" of Xiaomi, when you take into account that all of them are imported straight from China.
No problems reported by people. You do need a charging adaptor, and the self driving doesn't work.

https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/27/xiaomi-leads-chinese-ev-direct-imports-to-europe/

I saw 2 of them in Dubai on a showroom floor. They are really good looking in person and both were sold.

 

[PorscheTaycan]

Interesting Audi is selling EVs just for the China market.

The Audi EX7 is quite amazing. Only in China though.

https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/audi-e7x-all-electric-premium-suv-for-china-16935

https://carnewschina.com/2026/05/29...n-china-at-39795-usd-to-rival-the-xiaomi-yu7/

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