Filed under: Porsche, Volkswagen
Porsche getting a new name next month
In an effort to redefine itself as the next great German monolith, "Dr. Ing. H.c F. Porsche AG" will be rebirthed as "Porsche Automobil Holding SE" during a meeting on June 26th.The reasoning behind the renaming is to better reflect Porsche's investment in other automobile manufacturers, namely Volkswagen, in which Porsche currently has a 30.9-percent stake. Thus, Porsche will be reborn as a holding company with two operations, Porsche and Volkswagen.
German law has forced Porsche to make a takeover offer for VW since its stake has grown above 30%. The bid is on the table until May 29th, but shareholders aren't expected to jump at the opportunity, considering that the current bid offered by Porsche is well below the company's market value.
We'll see how things flesh out, but considering Porsche's newfound dominance in the market, we're expecting some Germanic fireworks come the end of the month and Volkswagen to be answering to Stuttgart at some point in the near future.
[Source: Just-Auto – sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Barney 10:34PM (5/04/2007)
"German law has forced Porsche to make a takeover offer for VW since its stake has grown above 30%."
That seems odd, but different laws for different countries. Hopefully the takeover will also mean better quality VW products. So what's in a name.
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Arnie 11:23PM (5/04/2007)
Ohh noooo! I liked the old name!
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Graham 1:18AM (5/05/2007)
too bad the old name is going, i just thought it spoke to the history of the company but hey, the new one aint bad
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Peter 2:24AM (5/05/2007)
Apparently they don't plan on giving up the old name altogether. "Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG" will be renamed to "Porsche Automobile Holding SE", however Porsche's operative business will be transfered to the "Porsche Vermögensverwaltung AG" subsidiary, which will change its name to...
"Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG"
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wushu 3:19AM (5/05/2007)
This is bad for consumers. Porsche has already killed the 6-cylinder version of the Audi R8 because it would have been what the Porsche Cayman S should have been in terms of higher horsepower and lower price. They might even kill the 4 cylinder version of the Audi R8. Less competition means less choice for consumers and higher prices. The government should force Porsche to divest its shares of VW.
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SGV 10:38AM (5/05/2007)
The question is, will Daimler Chrysler go back to Daimler Benz as God intended? or will they be renamed Daimler Holdings . . . something or other . . . .
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Kit 10:52AM (5/05/2007)
#5 - No R8 derivitive would compete with the Caymen. Considering the 8 cyl. R8 runs 110k, I can't see any 6 cyl version coming in much under 90. No one would pay that kind of money for a 6 that isn't a Porsche (and for that kind of dough it had better have a turbo or two). The idea of a 4 cyl R8 is kind of silly.
If you were talking about the potential R4, well, lets wait and see if Audi can pull that kind of excitment out of its hat.
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Barney 11:44AM (5/05/2007)
re: 5) wushu.
Porsche is also in competition with every other car maker. It would be poor strategy to buy a company and then close their inventory. Porsche is high end and VW is suppose to be low end, with Audi in the middle. It would be poor planning to make immediate changes when the buying public is so fickle.
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MH 11:40AM (5/06/2007)
Porsche Vermögensverwaltung AG = Porsche Wealth Manegment Inc.
Wow, these guys must have way to much money.
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