Volkswagen acquires Porsche Holding Salzburg

The close association between Volkswagen and Porsche began as early as the 1930’s when the first Porsche ever made used many components from the iconic Volkswagen Beetle.

However, after Porsche’s failed attempt at taking over Volkswagen in 2009 on account of insufficient stake ownership, Porsche suffered massive debts and drop in its overall car sales. Since, then the two estranged family owned car manufacturers have buried their differences, and now with Volkswagen in control of a majority stake in the Zuffenhausen-based sports car manufacturer, the stage is set for a full-fledged merger of the two German car makers sometime in 2012.

A major step forward in achieving this ultimate goal is Volkswagen’s announcement of its acquisition of the operating business of Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) in accordance with previous announcements. The transfer of the automobile trading company took place at a value of €3.3 billion on March 1, 2011. 

While the PHS registered office and corporate headquarters will remain in Salzburg, this takeover by Volkswagen represents the completion of its next planned step towards the creation of the integrated automotive group of Volkswagen and Porsche. 

Speaking on the official announcement of the acquisition, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, commented, “The business performance of Porsche Holding Salzburg is outstanding. It is one of the worlds most efficient and profitable automobile trading companies and will therefore significantly strengthen the Volkswagen Group’s sales activities.”

Volkswagen is acquiring all automobile operations of PHS such as the wholesale and retail business, Porsche Informatik, Porsche Bank, Porsche Immobilien and Porsche Versicherung as well as PGA Motors headquartered in Paris. 

Being Europe’s most successful private automobile trading company, PHS employs some 20,900 people and has a particularly strong presence in Austria, Western Europe and South Eastern Europe as well as China.  The company’s unit sales last year included 565,000 new cars, while used vehicles generated sales revenue of €12.78* billion, with profitability higher than the market average.