A quick trip to Paris and the rise of the super-manufacturer

I popped over to Paris at the weekend, which, as it turned out was well worth the trip. Good food, lovely architecture, and the odd car too.

Living in London we often need to be reminded how close to the continent we are. Once I’d negotiated our public transport system and met my father with his car it’s no more than a few hours to Paris. I needed to get some work done on Friday before leaving though, so it wasn’t until the evening that we made it into northern France.

However, I was entertained though by some great photographs in the service station attached to the Channel Tunnel so it wasn’t all bad!

The French have cracked down on English motorists, and for that matter probably German ones too, ‘making progress’ through their country as they try to make the next crossing or a hotel for the evening. But, it is worth commenting that we were still able to go quicker than we could dare in England with 120 (now was that km/h or mph now?) making the road to Arras zip by.

Arras? Not a place I’d been to before and not somewhere I had planned to go. However, it was worth my while. Great food is a given, but the old square is magnificent and there was even a very pretty, and highly original Swiss registered Porsche 911Porsche 911 Gen.1Germany, 1963 > 198951 versions
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parked outside the restaurant.

Some indigestion and an early start later and the Porte de Versailles beckoned. I’m sure the M25 would be busier than this? Even on a Saturday morning at 8am!

It’s not surprising that breakfast is a cocktail of pastries but they’re good ones and the show won’t wait but first we had to negotiate some militant French factory workers. It wouldn’t be France if there wasn’t a protest going on and it is appropriate that this one is about the factory cuts at PeugeotPeugeotFrance, 1882 > present120 models
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and CitroenCitroënFrance, 1919 > present94 models
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. It certainly contrasts with the huge stands inside the halls.

So, what did I think of the show itself?

This is the first time, and I know the statistics, where I have really grasped the might of VW. It wasn’t long ago that VWVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
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was rationalising the cost of producing the Mk 4 GolfVolkswagen Golf Gen.4Germany, 1997 > 200642 versions
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and worrying about the challenges of making money. Today, it has completed its takeover of PorschePorscheGermany, 1931 > present43 models
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and nearly an entire hall is filled by VW.

The MQB platform plays an enormous role in VW's strategy to become the world's largest automaker

© photo courtesy of: Volkswagen

Perhaps the most impressive thing about VW is its MQB platform. That may sound awfully boring but it is the key to its success. The MQB platform is used by the Audi A3Audi A3 Gen.3 [Typ 8V]Germany, 2012 > present275 versions
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, VW GolfVolkswagen Volkswagen Golf Gen.7 [VII]Germany, 2012 > present363 versions
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and the Seat LeonSeat Seat Leon Gen.3Spain, 2012 > present146 versions
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. It’ll reduce the time taken to build cars and give VW economies of scale that can’t be matched by any other manufacturer. Those worrying profit per unit statistics from the Golf Mk 4 era are a thing of the past all of a sudden.

The price that we pay for all of this is a little bit less choice. I accept that the quality will be higher, and perhaps without VW’s involvement some of the brands under its umbrella would be dead in the water. But I also think it is reducing the amount of variation as well.

I have owned a Seat Leon and one of the things I liked about it was a little bit different. That is no longer the case in 2012.  If you buy a Seat Leon you get a very nice and incredibly competent German looking car with a Seat badgeSeatSpain, 1950 > present29 models
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. The Golf has a nicer interior and a VW badge while the A3 is lovely inside and wears a snooty AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
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badge. However, that they are all essentially the same vehicle underneath is not in dispute. The Seat is now no different to its German brethren.

Over on the Porsche stand I am also forced to accept the practicalities of making money from car manufacturing in the second decade of the 21^st century.  The PanameraPorsche Panamera Gen.1 [970]Germany, 2009 > present31 versions
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is effectively only sold in dieselPorsche Panamera DieselGermany, 2011 > present7 photos
form in the UK (in real numerical terms) and it is far from the dainty Porsches that I remember from my youth. However, it is what pays the bills lest we forget that they too nearly had to switch off the lights and shut the gates in 1994.

Where does that leave the other manufacturers? MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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has failed in its US alliance with ChryslerChryslerUnited States of America, 1925 > present70 models
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and BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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had its fingers burnt by the RoverRoverUnited Kingdom, 1904 > 200523 models
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debacle. I have no doubt that BMW and Mercedes will prosper but they will need to consider a strategy to combat the might of VW in the future.

So much has changed in the last 20 years. The face of the automotive world has changed immeasurably since the start of the last decade and few would have predicted it. VW wants to get bigger and it had written those wishes in stone. It is up to the rest to compete now. In ten years time will we only have a few huge super-manufacturers casting their collective umbrellas over the current crop of badges? That might just be the way it is going.