Can you believe it! The tables have turned once again as Volkswagen announces that it’s buying
the remaining 50.1% of Porsche SE
that it does not already own for €4.46 billion (R45 billion). This effectively means Porsche will, from 01 August
2012, become a fully-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen. It will join other VW
brands Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda, MAN
trucks, Scania trucks and Ducati
bikes. Of course VW brand itself is also owned by VW.
And it may not be over, as chairman Ferdinand Piech is a major fan of the Alfa Romeo brand that’s owned by Fiat of Italy. Once he told journalists that VW is a patient
company that will one day take its opportunity and buy Alfa.
The move to finally pounce
on Porsche will put an end to seven years of internal squabbles that saw Porsche first attempting (and nearly succeeding I
might add), to buy much bigger Volkswagen. Unfortunately those plans were thwarted by the 2008 financial crisis that saw Porsche nearly
go bust. VW then set in motion events to in turn, buy Porsche, which has
culminated in todays’ announcement.
Volkswagen made a profit of €11.3 billion (R113.8 billion) in 2011, making it by
far the most profitable car maker in
the world. On the same year it overtook Toyota
to the number two spot in terms of the number of cars it sold globally. Now it has set its sights on General Motors. By 2015, VW aims to dethrone GM as the
world’s biggest seller of cars.
1 comment:
I can imagine the little 1.4 TSI Boxster running around the N1, proudly proclaiming lowest C02 emissions in its class. What the world has come to.
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