April 16, 2007 at 8:12 am
· Filed under Cars, International News, Porsche, Volkswagen
Wendelin Wiedeking has indicated that the Volkswagen Group could possibly ditch Bugatti and Lamborghini. Wiedeking is the current president and CEO of Porsche, and sits on the Volkswagen supervisory board. Since Porsche pretty much owns Volkswagen now, his words definitely carry alot of weight to them. His reasons for the possible disposal is “no toys anymore” - and it also does not make sense to have Porsche indirectly funding development for two of it’s rivals in the supercar realm.
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April 16, 2007 @ 8:22 am
If this for real, bad thing to us
No more supercars with “WOW” factor
April 16, 2007 @ 8:25 am
why would it be bad. they’d likely sell the two brands, not just make them vanish in thin air. someone else will buy it and continue the brands.
April 16, 2007 @ 8:48 am
exactly paul, i think some people take the “no toys anymore” too literally.
its amazing how the sports car maker with “bad design” and “boring designers” has become so rich as to be able to buy a huge chunk out of a huge mass manufacturer like VW group.
April 16, 2007 @ 9:49 am
Weideking guy is pretty serious with what he is doing e.g. turning Porsche into the most profitable car maker in recent years. also some people think that VW is kinda lost in its strategy lately. Having to many brand competing with each other in the same category.
Interesting to see what this guy will do with proton negotiation.
April 16, 2007 @ 10:32 am
Buggati has been nothing but a looooong honeymoon for VW. One model in, what, 10 yrs of ownership??
And Lamborghini doesn’t make much sense to VW now as Porsche and now Audi are making Sports/supercars.
Wiedeking has the full backing of the Porsche/Piech family. With him backing Martin Winterkorn, VW looks set to rationalise their Brands, which now comprises; Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti & Lamborghini. In fact some reports indicated Seat too may be ditched.
April 16, 2007 @ 10:39 am
It’s a simple plan. Stick to your core competencies. And mass manufacturing is what VW is good at. Niche market cars like Lambo and Bugatti are too costly and too time-consuming to maintain. And a market leader like VW doesn’t really need them to improve their corporate image either.
Audi did wonders to improve Lambo’s qaulity and market perception and it’s doing well in the market with lots of positive reviews. But it does little to affect their profit margins and it makes sense to let them go. Let’s hope that whoever acquires them will continue to improve their products and broaden their product range.
April 16, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Watched Top Gear yesterday..coincidentally it covers Bugatti Veyron and the best part is when Jeremy Clarkson says that..it cost VW about 5mil. pound to produce a veyron and it was sold for less, since they (VW) looks at the project as test for them whether they can produce a good supercar..so porsche’s representative concern is justified since they have almost 30% share in Volkswagen… I dont see why Proton-VW should go ahead with their collaboration without getting approval fom Porsche first.
April 16, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
First they make an SUV - Cayenne, now an AMG CLS competitor the Panamera. Porsche is biting into Benz AMG & BMW segments don’t you think? To do all this they need to spend their money wisely.
April 16, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
okay..i want to buy lambo for 1 euro.
VW should ask Proton for rationalisation of selling me the company for 1 euro.
April 16, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
It’ll be interesting to see who is gonna buy up Lamborghini and Bugatti now. Maybe the big wigs at Proton are punching their calculators furiously right now. Proton Iswara Neo - handling by Lamborghini. Anyone?
April 16, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
Lamborghini, in a not too distant past, was owned by a bunch of Indons, before VW(Audi) bought them..
Bugatti was dead for decades before Romano Artioli revived it in the 90s ,before he bought Lotus.
Talk about unwanted child
April 16, 2007 @ 3:42 pm
someone plz buy lambo and bugatti and ‘make’ them cheap like porsh…i mean the price tag….and no american giant plz
April 16, 2007 @ 3:46 pm
bugatti is like a concorde, they make it now then but in the future they could’nt cos just like the concorde, its history forever because of global warming. n by the way the veyron guzzles the 200 litre tank in 12 seconds! when it reaches the top speed!
April 16, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
Not only a bunch of Indons, Lambo was once owned by a Malaysian who bought it from the Suhartos.
April 16, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
so if vw buys proton, then porsche owns lotus, yes?
April 16, 2007 @ 7:11 pm
I do not think Lotus have much to offer them. Technological wise, VAG is much ahead than Lotus.
Well, without VAG’s “heart and veins” in the Bugg and Lambo, the cars would seriously loose out in terms of performance and technological advancement. And ofcourse the VAG quality standards.
Unless the buyer is equally strong in the areas, the taking over of either one of the marquee will be like another proton-lotus marriage like - lifeless.
April 16, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
What? Bugatti canibalizing on Porsche’s sales ?
In the end, company’s that focused too much on shareholder’s profits will fail. Company that looked at the long term benefit of end consumers will thrive.
Bugatti is a milestone, it’s something to make people understand and respect VW, hence they would feel for Porsche’s products, felt proud owning and buying them.
By selling Lamborghini and Bugatti, putting off the dreams of people, cutting off competing brands, Porsche will be seen as a sinister, a dream snatcher; no one will respect them as much as they are now.
Hear your business advice from me Wiedeking.
What’s good about maximizing your shareholder’s profit? Stabilizing your position? Getting higher year end bonus? Piechetstrieder had left a legacy in VW, you just want your annual income?
April 16, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
Basically what he is trying to say is, we sell this to our rivals, BMW, Ford Toyota and pray the cars that come out next will suck bad and the brand will disappear slowly like Marcos or TVR.
April 17, 2007 @ 3:27 am
weird… Porsche owns VW. VW owns Audi (& possibly proton, who owns Lotus). Audi owns Lambo. weird shit…
April 18, 2007 @ 2:20 am
Thanks Paul.
  It seems to me that there is one and only one reason to ditch less profitable subsidiaries.  If the funds can be deployed in a more profitable way somewhere else, move them.
When Warren Buffet took over Berkshire Hathaway, he jettisoned the least profitable mills in favor of new investment.  The “Toys,†divisions have little likelihood of achieving the profit margins we see at Toyota.  Profits and profits alone should determine the fate of Bugatti and Lamborghini.
If those divisions had profits any where near Porsche, then it would make good business sense to keep them even if they compete with the home brand.  But with the old world traditions of Italian and French car makers, I am afraid this will never be the case.
Sell Them.
April 18, 2007 @ 3:04 am
Thanks Paul.
It seems to me that there is one and only one reason to ditch less profitable subsidiaries.  If the funds can be deployed in a more profitable way somewhere else, move it.
When Warren Buffet took over Berkshire Hathaway, he jettisoned the least profitable mills in favor of new investment.  The “Toys,†divisions have little likelihood of achieving the profit margins we see at Toyota.  Profits and profits alone should determine the fate of Bugatti and Lamborghini.
If those divisions had profits any where near Porsche, that it would make good business sense to keep them even if they compete with the home brand.  But with the old world traditions, I am afraid this will never be the case.
April 18, 2007 @ 3:22 pm
ingolstadt said,
April 16, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
By selling Lamborghini and Bugatti, putting off the dreams of people, cutting off competing brands, Porsche will be seen as a sinister, a dream snatcher; no one will respect them as much as they are now.
So long they didn’t sell those brands to some irresponsible buyers and leave those brands to die, I think it’s fine actually.
Should VW gets Proton, I hope they will nt repeat their old mistake n proclaim their new model as “My first Porsche”, lol.