Porsche will plea for shopping spree in January
You know a blogger's sleep deprived when his titles start rhyming, but I had to post on this bit of news before my
head hit the pillow. Inside Line is reporting
that Porsche will ask its shareholders in January to amend the company's statutes to allow foreign acquisitions. What
does this mean? Basically Porsche is asking its shareholders for the company credit card to go shopping around the
world for more brands to buy.
Porsche already purchased a 20% chunk of VW this year, but apparently its business plan for the years ahead involve
branching out beyond its borders. No one knows if and when Porsche will attempt to purchase a stake, controlling or
otherwise, in another automaker, but it's fun to speculate who could end up in the company's shopping cart. Will it go
slumming for an economy brand or try to add a venerable luxury marque to its portfolio? What's our best guess? Off the
top of our heads, Saab. What's yours?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jamie 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Really darling.
It's totally obvious what Porsche is up to. They buy a 20% stake in VW to counter corporate raiders.
Now they are poised to pounce on some exotic delicacy...like Ferrari, or Maserati...OR perhaps they see an opportunity when Delphi drives GM into the ground [if GM doesn't beat them and get there all by itself], so they can scoop up the droppings.
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petey pablo! 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
what about buying subaru? they both use boxster engines! talk about synergies they can leverage!
a porsche wrx sti? i'd hit it!
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Jackson Landers 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
They're going to increase their cachet by grabbing a big stake in Daewoo. They're smart to buy in now while Daewoo is still up-and-coming, poised to grab the lions share of the American luxury market.
Heh heh.
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Thomas p 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
I think they could realistically go after the part of Subaru that Toyota hasn't bought. They both make boxer engines, have an interest in turbocharging and are starting to develop hybrid drives. For one, I'd love to drive the product of that relationship!
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Nick 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Hmm,
How about a British sports car brand... buy Lotus from Proton? Or TVR? or Morgan? Or if they have very deep pockets maybe they could buy Jaguar from Ford?
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DJ 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Jaguar might make for an interesting acquisition, given it would provide them with a sedan base and state of the art aluminum engineering expertise. I could also see them taking full contol of Audi or Lambo through their VW stake. Another fun acquisition would be Alfa.
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number six 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
How about being really daring, and buying SEAT from Volkswagen? Then they could really be daring and actually try to sell them in the states, as a mass-market, small but somewhat premium car. Not through Porsche dealers, though!
It's not so crazy - Porsche designed a series of engines for SEAT in the 1980's when it was still an independent (after dropping it's relationship with FIAT and before it was purchased by VW).
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Brad 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Man, there's lots of potential targets out there. Thomas has a good point with the part of Subie that Toyota doesn't own...boxers and turbos, not a bad bit of synergy. DJ also has a point with Jag providing a good sedan base and aluminum construction. I don't think that would happen because I don't see Ford giving up on Jag, despite the $$ losses, and Jag has too much history in the GT classes (D-Type, XJ, XK8, etc.) to not have some cross-shopping between brands. I think Neff has it right...Saab. GM is in desperate straights, despite Wagoner's comments to the contrary, and unlike Volvo to Ford, GM doesn't seem to get nearly the use out of Saab's technology, platforms and products that it could. Saab doesn't have anything that competes with any Porsche product, they have a long and strong history with turbocharging, and they understand European performance. They're just near luxury enough that they won't drag down Porsche's image, and by riding Porsche's coattails they should elevate their position in the European luxury car game. Should be interesting.
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TennisD 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
How in the world are some of you seeing Porsche picking up Alfa, Ferrari or Maserati? Considering all three of those are in Fiat control right now (Maserati has been shifted from Ferrari to Alfa though) it's not really likely to happen.
Although I do like the idea of Porsche buying up the remaining bits of Subaru. Now THAT would be an interesting proposition...
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number six 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Does anyone think that Toyota and thus Subaru would really allow Porsche to "buy in"?
Yeah, it'd be a great combo - but I don't see it happening - since Toyota bought some 8.7% of Subie from GM (out of 20% owned) and I'd be willing to bet, pretty much the rest of the 20% on the Japanese stock market.....
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Johnny Aero 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
With GM's current situation they are going to have to let go of SAAB. When they declare bankruptcy they will have to liquidate all divisions that are losing money. Porsche is getting in position to snap SAAB up. It would be a match made in heaven. True Porsche fans cannot stand the fact the Porsche builds that god awful SUV, and is planning to build a sedan. Porsche could let SAAB build SUV's, sedans, wagons, and HATCHBACKS! while Porsche focuses on what they do best.
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thomas p 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
number six, if those shares are on the stock market, then that makes them a feasible target for Porsche to acquire. Regardless, Fuji has shown no problems with selling parts of Subie before, so I don't see any reason they wouldn't sell some of them now. ESPECIALLY to a partner like porsche, with stellar income statistics, great technology and a long, esteemed history.
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Dustin Tarditi 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
General Motors
Ha, ha, ho, --ooh - I laughed so hard it hurt
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kevin 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
maybe they want another sedan platform %
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Dave 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Saab would be a good match actually. Put the technology of the Saab trionic turbo management system into a 911 Turbo and watch the results. They are wizards at turbo tech and give them a Porsche engine to work their magic on and they might come up with something truly spectactular.
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Chris 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
Porsche is more brand aware Gucci or LVMH. There is no way they would damage the rep with SAAB or Subaru. I think it will be something with leg and ability to grow. I will bet that its a division of someone. How about Audi/Lambo. They are already 20% holders of the parent company, which needs the funds BAD!! Further, they have worked together in the past.
They might also
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Gandhi 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
How about Lotus? Remember, during bad economic times, Porshce relied on engineering to see them through the storm. Proton (Lotus parent) is not doing well right now and Lotus and its engineering talent would be a very nice addition. Lotus has been doing lots of outside work for other companies (most famous current example is the next gen Nissan GTR). ANd despite leaving motorsport, they have been involved in assisting other teams. And going back to the person with the Jag suggestion, Lotus is also big into aluminum use for thier sports cars.
Lotus would represent a good buy - not a huge capital outlay like Saab or Jaguar, and similar motorsport and engineering expertise.
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MacMillan 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
It's always amazing how companies over-reach and acquire companies they shouldn't, only to shed them years later at a huge discount.
Porsche would be wise to stick close to their knitting. They are already the most profitable automaker on a gross margin basis.
Why screw up a good thing? (Answer: Ego)
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JZeke 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
No!
Porsche should buy NO ONE. Historically, no manufacturer has increased profits from buying another brand. Porsche is a premium brand in an excellent market position. The only thing they would benefit from is sharing knowledge with another brand for alternative drivetrains (hybrids, maybe fuel cells) and technology.
In that light, a sharing commitment with both Toyota and Subaru is the only one that makes sense. But not to make new cars, only to help share costs of new drivetrain development and accelerate technology refinement.
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johnc 11:07PM (12/18/2005)
As a long time SAAB fan and driver I'd love to see Porsche acquire SAAB. GM has proven they don't understand the brand or how to maximize the technology that SAAB offers across the GM family (safety? hello?) Of course I know absolutely nothing and I'm just engaging in wishful thinking based on the speculation from the original post.
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