The Volkswagen Group will take a 90.1% stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. (IDG), Turin, including the brand name rights and patents.
The agreement was announced today at a joint press conference in Turin. Regulatory approvals are pending.
The shares are being acquired by Audi’s Italian subsidiary Lamborghini Holding S.p.A. The remaining shares will stay in the possession of the Giugiaro family.
Volkswagen has cooperated with IDG for decades. Giugiaro, arguably, became famous with his Golf I design. He then went on with concepts for high volume models such as the first Volkswagen Passat, Scirocco and the Audi 80, to name just a few. Volkswagen and IDG are now working on the planned Volkswagen Up! model family vehicle, among others.
“With this shareholding in Italdesign, we are participating in one of the most renowned design and development companies with one of the richest traditions in the automobile industry,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.
“Italdesign is the flagship for creative Italian automobile design and has been instrumental in shaping the face of the automobile industry worldwide,” said Winterkorn.
Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani founded IDG in Turin in 1968. Both founders are among the leaders of Italian automobile design. Italdesign is also known for its development center. Today, the company generates sales of more than €100 million and has a workforce of 800 employees.
“Every drop becomes the sea when it flows oceanward. In the last few days, I ran into this sentence while I was reading Sophie’s World by the Norwegian novelist Jostein Gaardner. We are the drop. Becoming part of the Volkswagen Group means reevaluating ourselves and our strength. Entering Volkswagen means to open up a promising perspective for the company,” Giorgetto Giugiaro said.
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