Volkswagen acquires Italdesign-Giugiaro

The Volkswagen Group and Italdesign-Giugiaro S.p.A. today announced the next step in their successful cooperation. The Volkswagen Group will take a 90.1 percent stake in Italdesign, including the brand name rights and patents.

"With this shareholding in Italdesign, we are participating in one of the most renowned design and development companies with one of the richest traditions in the automobile industry," Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, told members of the press at a conference in Turin, Italy.

The shares are being acquired by Audi's Italian subsidiary Lamborghini Holding S.p.A., with the remaining shares remaining in the possession of the Giugiaro family.

"Every drop becomes the sea when it flows oceanward," Giorgetto Giugiaro said. "In the last few days I ran into this sentence while I was reading Sophie`s World by the Norwegian novelist Jostein Gaardner. We are the drop.

"Becoming part of the Volkswagen Group means revaluating ourselves and our strength. Entering Volkswagen means to open up a promising perspective for the company."

Volkswagen and Italdesign-Giugiaro are collaborating closely on ongoing projects such as the planned Volkswagen Up! model family, following a comprehensive development framework agreement which concluded in 2008.  

"As the creator of the Golf I, Giorgetto Giugiaro laid a new foundation for Volkswagen design in the 1970s," Winterkorn said. "A new era in the strategic partnership between our companies begins today.

"The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign. The company will therefore be making an important contribution to our 2018 global growth strategy."

Founded in Turin by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani in 1968, Italdesign has since acquired a reputation as a competent development center. Today, the company generates sales of over €100 million and has a workforce of 975 employees.

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By Eric Gallina