It's official: Volkswagen owns Porsche

TorqueNews reported in early July that Volkswagen AG had announced their intentions to buy the remaining 50.1% of Porsche AG that Volkswagen didn’t already hold, which would allow Porsche to join into the matrix that helps make VW the world’s largest automaker. The agreement was set to be completed on August 1st 2012 and the financial end of things went through as planned so Porsche is now officially a part of the Volkswagen automotive group.

As expected, Volkswagen paid 4.49 billion Euros ($5.45 billion US Dollars at current conversion rates) which includes 3.88 billion Euros ($4.71 billion US Dollars) for the estimated value of those Porsche AG shares along with an additional 600 million Euros ($741 million US Dollars) to cover various costs and benefits as a result of the quick sale. The company figures that not only does the quick transaction allow the company to save money in a variety of ways but it will also allow the VW and Porsche brands to begin collaborating more heavily right away.

"The path is now finally clear for a bright future together. Even closer cooperation will enable us to significantly strengthen Volkswagen and Porsche, and further expand the Group's product portfolio with fascinating new vehicles", said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft's Board of Management, in Wolfsburg on Wednesday. "The unique Porsche brand will continue to develop successfully under Volkswagen's multibrand strategy and proven decentralized management structure. Porsche will retain its own identity and operational independence, just like all of the other Group brands.”

Volkswagen and Porsche have worked together closely on a collection of models in the past but with the Porsche brand now having access to all of the technology of the Bugatti, Audi and Lamborghini brands – the Porsche brand could continue to become a more powerful luxury sports car builder in the global market. In the long run, unlike many mergers in the automotive industry, the purchase of the Porsche brand by Volkswagen AG should only mean good things for everyone involved.

The Porsche brand is already one of the most well known luxury sports car builders in the industry with a wide spread of vehicle offerings ranging from the more affordable Porsche Boxster and Cayman to the lineup of 911 models to the Panamera sedan to the popular Cayenne SUV. There is already a new smaller sport utility vehicle in the works with help from VW (code named Macan) along with the upcoming 918 hybrid supercar. There have also been rumors that there is a midsized luxury sport sedan that will range below the Panamera along with a “Ferrari-fighter” mid engine sports car that would probably be similar to the 918 minus the hybrid portion of the drivetrain. Now that Porsche will have more assistance from the vast amounts of experience among the many VW brands – offering those higher volume, lower priced models without cutting into the Porsche bottom line will be much easier for the company. Click here for a closer look on the possible new models from Porsche.