Reports out of Germany indicate that the boards of Volkswagen and Porsche have agreed on a deal that would combine their businesses, potentially under the historic Auto Union name. The combined group would reportedly be led by current VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.
Under the new combined entity, Porsche would operate independently from the other brands – much like Audi and Bentley do today – though it would continue to share technologies and platforms with the other brands. Currently, Porsche’s most visible product and technology cooperation is in the Cayenne SUV, which shares much with the Volkswagen Touareg .
VW would buy a 49 percent stake in Porsche AG, but that’s only the first step in what would be an “integrated,” according to VW, group by 2011.
A price tag for the 49 percent share has yet to be determined. Earlier, Porsche made several unsuccessful debt-financed attempts to acquire Volkswagen .
The Auto Union name was used by the consortium that controlled Audi , Horch, DKW and Wanderer prior to World War II. Eventually, the company evolved into modern-day Audi, which became a Volkswagen unit in 1964.
