It will be a historical move if the Europe's largest car manufacturer (also the third largest in the world) takes over the highest-margin car producer, both hailing from my favorite Germany.
Earlier, I had been to the Porsche museum in Stuttgart and was amazed by the models and the way they were arranged across .
Porsche is another victim of the long recession and would personally feel bad to see the brand wither away !
This also creates the usual questions in any M&A:
- Will it be a bigger 'VW' or 'VW-Porsche' post merger?
- How integrated the new unit will be?
- How independent will Porsche be in future (mid 2011)
- What happens during the progressive acquistion period of almost 2 years?
- What about the workforce?
Laughable quote:
"Like Audi today, Porsche can also continue its independent development under the aegis of Volkswagen and preserve its own identity," - Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the Volkswagen management board
From the history stable:
Professor Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1930,with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the center of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting but did not build any cars under its own name. One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, a "Volkswagen" in German.This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time. The first Porsche, the Porsche 64, was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle.
More on http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14101573
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