Porsche to retain its identity, despite VW takeover

Posted on: Nov 20th, 2010, by daenterpri

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Last month, Porsche legend and former CEO Wendelin Weideking stepped down from his position after his failed bid to take over the much larger Volkswagen. For the past few years, Porsche has been gunning for the VW takeover and it seemed to have paid off after gaining 51% of their shares early last year. Unfortunately, Porsche fell short of taking 75% ownership due to the ongoing financial crisis and corresponding credit crunch. Porsche suffered so much from their ambitious plan and ended up with $13.8 Billion in debt. Ironically, the luxury sports automaker sought the help of the company they aspired to takeover, which will now take Porsche as another one of its brands, which includes Bentley and Lamborghini.

Volkswagen’s chairman Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche who also designed the VW Beetle sealed the deal and fulfilled the goal of merging the two companies earlier this month. The merger seems to be working well for both brands as stock prices increased shortly after the takeover was announced.

Concerns about Porsche losing its identity after being reduced to one of VW’s ten brands were quickly put to rest after VW announced that Porsche will remain a standalone company headquartered in Zuffenhausen and still retain its identity while benefiting from being part of an integrated group, much like their other nine brands. The takeover will give Porsche access to the Volkswagen empire’s technology and systems and allow the luxury sports automaker to do what they do best, making cars.