VW has $27B burning a hole in its pocket.

VW's Piech may be eyeing Ferrari stake

November 9, 2010 - 12:01 am ET

Manager Magazin / Autonews.com

 

Is Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech eyeing Ferrari as the next acquisition to add to VW group's collection of brands? Some in the German press think so.

 

Piech has already said openly that he would like VW to buy Fiat's Alfa Romeo marque -- but the "real object of his desire," is Ferrari, Manager Magazin says in its current issue.

 

VW already has plenty of sporty brands. It is merging Porsche into its portfolio and owns Lamborghini, the Italian super car maker. In 1998, VW bought the rights to the Bugatti marque, supposedly after Piech's son was thrilled at seeing a vintage miniature Bugatti in a toy shop.

 

With a cash pile of 19.6 billion euros ($27 billion), VW can easily afford Ferrari, Fiat's most profitable brand, which financial analysts value at between 2.3 billion and 3.5 billion euros.

 

In September, Marchionne denied an Italian newspaper report that Fiat may sell Ferrari to raise funds to increase its stake in Chrysler Group, but the Fiat-Chrysler CEO did not rule out selling part of the super car unit.

 

Fiat may sell shares in Ferrari in an initial public offering while retaining a 51 percent stake. That could open the door to Piech. Some industry watchers say the 73-year-old would be happy even with a minimum stake in Ferrari.

Crazy, ze Germans vill own all ze luxury italian and british marques soon. It vill be vorld domination!

Lamborghini,Ferrari,Porsche & Bugatti all under the same ownership. Woah.

will never happen, Fiat will not let that go for cheap, will see a platform sharing with VW, Fiat and some Chrysler models.

Never say never. I just hope VW keeps them all competitive - I hate how Porsche is setup right now with their "linear performance lineup."

 

 

1) Fiat turned down Ford's offer to buy in the '60s, so money alone to a company not struggling might not be enough.

 

2) Assuming Ferrari does get sold...could it co-exist with L & P without diluting the individual brands?

 

I'd be cool with it so long as the identities and corporate philosophies are kept in tact. As much as the 3 compete with each other, there's really no danger of one falling off the market if the other does better. Respective market share will always stay the same IMHO.

 

I can see transmission sharing being a small benefit....everything else should be kept separate.

 

I hope they will buy Ferrari and shift the production facility to China

The only reason why this story plays is that Fiat is hurting. Chrysler will continue to be an anchor around their neck long into the foreseeable future, and god knows there's no way to off-load the brand thanks to the deal they made for long term financial incentives with the US. They're stuck with them.

 

So either they turn Chrysler around through a mircale bordering on the supernatural, or they find a way to mitigate the cashflow blood loss.

 

I see a non-controlling minority stake by VW in either Alfa, Ferrari, or both, being a very possible outcome if it makes sense for them in terms of an investment.

 

God knows stranger things have happened, but this is probably something that will wind up being nothing in terms of shifting the landscape.

1) Fiat turned down Ford's offer to buy in the '60s, so money alone to a company not struggling might not be enough.

Actually that was before Fiat had a stake in Ferrari. It was Enzo who had a deal in place to sell to Ford, but backed out at the last minute, pissing Henry II off so much he vowed to beat him in racing. This lead to the development of the GT40.

Actually that was before Fiat had a stake in Ferrari. It was Enzo who had a deal in place to sell to Ford, but backed out at the last minute, pissing Henry II off so much he vowed to beat him in racing. This lead to the development of the GT40.

Enzo sure made a lot of great shit happen because people didn't like him lol

Enzo sure made a lot of great shit happen because people didn't like him lol

 

alfa maybe, frankly i think its never gonna happen, fiat in trouble or not

I hope they will buy Ferrari and shift the production facility to China

 

 

^^^^ this.

alfa maybe, frankly i think its never gonna happen, fiat in trouble or not

 

 

Fiat has very interestingly a very sound financial structure, and is overall in a very good position, to do its thing. Something interesting is going to be coming up with this might be VW's way of distracting its other planned merger/acquisition's. I'd think VW better work on its USA customer service, and service issues with customers as its in the D+/C- category.

Enzo sure made a lot of great shit happen because people didn't like him lol

I laughed pretty hard

Enzo sure made a lot of great shit happen because people didn't like him lol

:lol2:

Lamborghini,Ferrari,Porsche & Bugatti all under the same ownership. Woah.

 

 

IMHO this could lead to cars that seek to extract the maximum amount of cash with a minimalist approach to engineering, styling & performance.

Lots of rumours about with this "surplus" cash. This is one of them, the other is Audi entering Formula one.

only reason it will happen is for distribution lines. Fiat has no home at the moment in the United States.

Just know as the japanese companies have used parts bin sharing for its 90% of its products , this is what VW is trying to do with BMW and MBZ soon. Fiat controls a lot of big suppliers as well has a very good niche in the market place, mainly fiats sell off of 20% of Ferrari is about that much.

Lots of rumours about with this "surplus" cash. This is one of them, the other is Audi entering Formula one.

 

That would be awesome. And I also heard VW to IndyCar last year. That would be cool.