Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 22:01:18 +1200
Reply-To: Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Unofficial alliance to become corporate alliance??
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> >From a news release
>
>BERLIN Sep 25, 2005 - Luxury sports car maker Porsche AG said Sunday it
>plans to acquire a stake of about 20 percent in Volkswagen AG, a move aimed
>at strengthening ties between the automakers and preventing a future hostile
>takeover of Volkswagen.
No way would Porsche have the funds.
>Porsche said Volkswagen has become "a significant supplier for about 30
>percent of our sales volume" as well as "an important partner in
>development."
>The two companies worked together to develop Porsche's Cayenne sport utility
>vehicle and Volkswagen's Touareg. They recently announced that they, along
>with Audi AG, were forming an alliance to develop hybrid engines.
Audi is a wholly-owned subsidiary of VW, not an independent company.
>Looks like 60 years of partnership on the side to become partners
>officially. Is this like living together for 60 years and then deciding to
>get married??
>
> >From another article the purchase will involve Porsche doing it as a stock
>purchase with 4 billion in cash.
>
>jimt
>Wouldn't that more accurately be seen as a move to reduce the
>likelihood of a hostile takeover of Porsche? I think VW is the fifth
>largest automaker on the planet, with facilities all over, and Porsche
>is somewhere near the bottom of the pack in terms of size and
>geographic scope...but, what do I know? I believe Porsche is the most
>profitable automaker though, so maybe they're on to something.
Toyota is by far and away the most profitable. Reliability really does sell.
>One of the reasons given by Porsche actually is to block any take over of VW
>from outside of the unofficial partnerships.
I would not be surprised if Toyota was thinking
of an outright buyout. Heck... could there be
such a thing as a RELIABLE watercooled VW in the
future?
> This has become a strained
>position because some members of the european union have and are filing
>national level law suits over the protection of ownership of VW stock
>(currently protected under German law as to who can own how much outside of
>the Wolfsburg rules). They are claiming this gives VW protected and favored
>status over other euro union members. Porsche purchase would still leave
>the brands and corporations separate (required legal point under euro rules)
>but would also ensure and protect the long VW Porsche partnership and keep
>anyone from outside of the group (basically mercedes, vw, and porsche) from
>getting inside control. The majority stock control would then still be under
>Wolfsburg controls and neutralize the european union law suits Wonder how
>many people outside of europe realize just how much these three competitors
>actually work on joint projects borrowing each others technologies and even
>parts in each others plants. Personally I think it is the unofficial three
>company mfr alliance that the other members of the european union are trying
>to break up.
>>
>>European and Asian Governments work with their manufacturers to keep jobs
>>in their countries and assure the success of both the companies and the
>>full employment of their citizens. Even the French understand the
>>concept.
>
>Yea, it works so well, in Germany & France, that they have double digit
>unemployment.
Yep... used to keep awful manufacturers like
Peugeot (& its Citröen subsidiary) twitching...