Fights among family members are inevitable. Such is the case at the Volkswagen Group, where Audi and Porsche were both fighting for the right to develop future sports cars and luxury sedans for the German auto conglomerate's portfolio of brands.

Ultimately, Porsche got the last laugh as Volkswagen CEO, Martin Winterkorn, decided to give task to Porsche. This means Porsche will develop future platforms that will underpin high-performance automobiles using front-mid and rear-mid-mounted drivetrains for itself, Audi and Lamborghini. Porsche will also be tasked with the next generation "modular standard matrix" platform for the next Panamera sedan, which will also be shared with Bentley.

All is not lost for Audi. It will take the lead in the development of the group's "modular longitudinal matrix," which will underpin vehicles as the Audi A4, A5 and Q5. Finally, Volkswagen will continue to work on its volume platform, the "modular transverse matrix", that is used by such models as the Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3.

The goal of all these specific engineering assignments is of course cost savings. By consolidating multiple platforms into a few modular structures, VW Group's procurement and production costs are reduced by 20 percent, and engineering costs by 30 percent.