Published on July 10th, 2012 | by Daniel Sherman Fernandez
0Volkswagen Now Owns Porsche
Volkswagen Group now owns Porsche and intends to maximize its profits and market share with combined engineering and production. Its recent decision to take full control of Porsche Automobil Holding SE’s car manufacturing business puts the VW Group and Porsche in a stronger position as a global manufacturer.
VW agreed to buy the remaining 50.1 percent of Porsche SE’s automotive business that it doesn’t already own for 4.46 billion euros ($5.6 billion), ending a seven-year takeover saga that divided two of Germany’s most powerful families. The agreement means Volkswagen can now fully fold the Porsche car manufacturing business into its stable of brands, which range from Audi and Bentley sedans to Skoda and Seat volume models and Ducati motorbikes. It leaves Porsche SE, which is controlled by the Piech-Porsche family still owning 50.7 percent of VW’s common stock.
With sales volumes running close to 20 percent above their previous record, Porsche’s main challenge is “securing sufficient production capacity,” and integration with VW will help as VW already has plans to start assembling some Porsche models in its own plants.