Porsche Plans to Buy 20% of VW

25 September 2005

Porsche AG announced that it plans to buy 20% of Volkswagen’s common shares to prevent a takeover of Europe’s largest carmaker. The investment would be worth about €3.3 billion (US$4 billion) based on the current price of the common stock.

At the IAA, Porsche announced that it would develop a hybrid version of its Cayenne SUV based on the Volkswagen/Audi hybrid drive. (Earlier post.)

The partnership between the two companies extends well beyond that, however. The Cayenne SUV is already manufactured partially at the plant that produces VW’s Touareg SUV. (Hence working together on hybrid versions of both makes operational sense as well.)

Volkswagen is also a supplier for about 30% of unit sales, according to a statement by Porsche. Volkswagen supervisory board Chairman Ferdinand Piech belongs to the family that controls Porsche. Piech is the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche.