Volkswagen has concept to merge with Porsche, says sports car maker won’t lose independence

July 23rd, 2009 VW to pursue deal with PorscheSTUTTGART, Germany — Volkswagen AG says it will pursue an eventual combination with Porsche but vows the sports car maker will not lose its independence. Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen says its supervisory board, the German equivalent to a U.S.

July 23rd, 2009 VW presents concept to merge with PorscheSTUTTGART, Germany — Volkswagen AG said Thursday it will pursue an eventual merger with Porsche SE under VW's leadership, vowing the luxury sports car maker will retain its independence. The Wolfsburg-based automaker, Europe's biggest by sales, said that its supervisory board, the German equivalent to a U.S.

July 11th, 2009 Report: Volkswagen raises bid for PorscheSTUTTGART, Germany — Volkswagen AG has increased its offer to take a 49.9 percent stake in troubled sports car maker Porsche to more than euro4 billion ($5.56 billion), according to a media report Saturday. German weekly Der Spiegel reported the latest VW offer reflected an increase of roughly euro1 billion ($1.39 billion), as compared to a previous bid that was rejected by Stuttgart-based Porsche.

July 18th, 2009 Report: Porsche near deal with VWFRANKFURT — The struggle over control of Porsche, the heavily leveraged maker of world-class sports cars including the 911, appears to be coming to an end, according to media reports. The German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported on its Web site Saturday that Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen AG would initially get 49.9 percent of Porsche AG and later take the remaining shares.

June 30th, 2009 Porsche denied credit demand, Qatar eyes stakeSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche said Tuesday that a state-owned German development bank has rejected its application for euro1.75 billion ($2.46 billion) in credit, but that a Qatar investment fund has offered to buy a stake in the sports car maker. Porsche Automobil Holding SE said the KfW bank had rejected the application.

July 23rd, 2009 Timeline in Porsche, Volkswagen sagaA look at the timeline beginning with Porsche SE's decision to acquire a majority stake in Volkswagen and, ultimately, leading to Thursday's announcement that chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking stepped down and VW's plan to merge with the sports car maker. September 2005: Porsche announces plans to buy a 20 percent stake in Volkswagen AG.

May 7th, 2009 STUTTGART - Owners of the German sports car maker Porsche announced plans Wednesday for merging with the Volkswagen group into what is to be an 'integrated car concern', the final structure of which still has to be worked out. In a disclosure by the family stakeholders of the Porsche-Holding company which owns the carmaker, the future concern consist of 10 independent brands, including the Porsche brand.

June 29th, 2009 Porsche rejects VW offerSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche has rejected Volkswagen AG's bid to take a 49 percent stake in the sports carmaker, a company spokesman said Monday. Porsche Automobil Holding SE spokesman Albrecht Bamler said the offer by VW "is not a viable option." According to Bamler, Porsche board chairman Wolfgang Porsche received the offer in a letter by courier last week.

July 23rd, 2009 Porsche's failed plan to acquire VWSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche Automobil Holding SE started out with the goal of acquiring much larger Volkswagen AG but in the process got upended by the financial crisis — and now finds its sports car business about to be put under VW's umbrella in a merger. — How did this happen? Highly profitable Porsche moved on Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest car company by sales, led by Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking.

July 23rd, 2009 VW plans merger with PorscheSTUTTGART, Germany — The best thing Volkswagen AG can do when it carries through its proposed merger with Porsche is this: Leave Porsche alone and reap the revenue from a glossy brand with loyal, rich customers, analysts say. Having emerged Thursday atop a power struggle among members of the Piech and Porsche families — who control Porsche Autombil Holding SE — and cost Wendelin Wiedeking his job as chief executive, Volkswagen is left to gather the spoils, namely the marquee Porsche name that will soon be counted with Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, already among its stable of luxury brands.

July 23rd, 2009 Porsche CEO steps down, making way for VW mergerSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking is leaving the luxury sports car maker after 16 years at the helm, a move widely expected to clear the way for a merger with Volkswagen AG. The board for Porsche Automobil Holding SE said Thursday that Wiedeking, 56, and chief financial officer Holger Haerter, 53, were leaving with immediate effect from the heavily indebted company that makes the 911, among other models.

March 19th, 2009 GENEVA - Niche car producers stole the limelight at the Geneva Motor Show with such high-end sports car makers as Maserati, Lamborghini and Aston Martin apparently unaffected by the global financial crisis. 'There is a small section of customers who neither look at money nor carbon dioxide emissions,' says market analyst Nick Margetts of Jato Dynamics.In short they are as non-green as you can imagine.

September 13th, 2009 LONDON - A firm in Edinburgh has designed a Bluetooth-based alarm that can tell absent-minded technology geeks when they have left their mobile phone or laptop behind. The device called 'Nio', a result of years of research, is soon to hit the shops.

November 20th, 2008 You know how you see a show car, and it's really cool, and then four years later you see the production car, and it sucks? And you go, What happened? They had it! They had it in the palm of their hands! They grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory! What happened was, the designers came up with this really great idea. Then they take it to the engineers, and the engineers go, 'Nah, we can't do that.

August 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Japanese car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd Monday launched its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Fortuner here. Priced at Rs.18.45 lakh (Rs.1.845 million) -- ex-showroom in Delhi -- Toyota Fortuner is now available in India only in its diesel variant.