Volkswagen says Italdesign purchase will boost its growth strategy

Volkswagen AG will acquire a 90 percent stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A., VW said Tuesday.

The Giugiaro family will retain 10 percent in the 42-year-old automotive styling company that is famous for designing cars such as the first-generation Volkswagen Golf.

VW CEO Martin Winterkorn said Italdesign will make an important contribution to the automaker's 2018 global growth strategy.

“The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign," Winterkorn said in a statement.

VW did not give any details on the price it paid for a a 90.1 percent stake in Italdesign, which has annual sales of more than 100 million euros ($122 million).

Italdesign Chairman Giorgetto Giugiaro said: "Entering Volkswagen means more security for our future."

VW aims to become the world's largest automaker by 2018 with sales of 10 million vehicles a year, compared with 6.29 million last year. The carmaker needs more designers and engineers to help reach the goal. In 2010 alone, VW Group plans to add 60 models, including upgrades.

VW has cooperated with Italdesign for many decades with Giugiaro designing not only the first-generation Golf, but also concepts for important models such as the first VW Passat, Scirocco and Audi 80.

Italdesign is also working on VW's new Up family of minicars.

Piech connection

VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who is a close friend of Giorgetto Giugiaro, was at Italdesign's headquarters in Moncalieri, 9 miles south of Turin, for the announcement. He did not attend a press conference but was present when Winterkorn and Giugiaro spoke to Italdesign's staff.

Piech spent the summer of 1972 working at Italdesign to learn about design and engineering from Giugiaro.

Italdesign was co-founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968 and currently has 975 employees and 800 computer aided design workstations.

VW said it will acquire its Italdesign shares through Audi's Italian subsidiary Lamborghini Holding S.p.A. A VW spokesman said this was being done to keep the company's Italian operations bundled together.

By Luca Ciferri- Automotive News