Porsche goes down small car path

,"Porsche is rumoured to be involved in a three-way tie-up with Volkswagen and Audi which would result in a sub-Boxster runabout for the brand and similar-sized sports convertibles for its German partners. But Porsche it will definitely not go down the road of the Aston Martin Cygnet - which is a tweaked and re-badged Toyota iQ city car.  "From a marketing point of view, (the Aston Martin Cygnet) is a very good idea," admit's Porsche's Eckhard Eybl. But he quickly adds that re-bading is not a Porsche solution.  "Whatever we will do in the future, it will always have to be a real Porsche. Then the customer can really trust all the mechanical parts - that it will be a Porsche,Porsche is already monitoring the introduction of the Audi A1, the prestige brand's new baby, and admits respect for its previous work on the aluminium-bodied A2 economy car.  "Porsche is part of the Volkswagen company, and if you remember, a few years ago there was the perfect small car, which was the Audi A2
But it didn't sell, because customers had not been used to this kind of engineering, to this shape and to this special kind of cars.  And it was really a pity because in many terms it was a very advanced car. In terms of materials and aerodynamics - and in small engines, with a 1.4-litre."
Times have changed, and Ebyl thinks the Audi A1 will do much better.  "We are looking forward and I think the car will be a big success because on one hand you have the Mini which is a very trendy car but it's not an answer for the cars in the mega-cities.  And if you do a retro car, you always have the problem of what is the next step."
So what about Porsche following Audi and developing their own small car?  "I think it would be a very good idea, but we have to wait to see how the A1 will go in the market,But this will not be the next step - maybe three or four steps away.  "We'll see. But not within the next few years. It's not possible to start a project like this and be in the market within a few years, but if development goes in this direction then being part of this big companywill make it quite possible.