This paper aims at closing the gap between early phases (e.g. design) and later phases (e.g. procurement or production) of the Product Development Process (PDP) by proposing a Virtual Product Model (VPM) as a collection of individual components (VPMCs) without the need for a static structure. Based on an analysis of the requirements on product development in the automotive industry, the main problems we observe are limited transparency, limited continuity, and limited reusability throughout different phases of the PDP. Virtual Product Model Components (VPMCs) can be used in different products and allow the reflection of changes throughout the PDP as well as the derivation of domain-specific views on the overall product at runtime. We illustrate these concepts by use case scenarios derived from an analysis of automotive product development practices.