Driving Sports

Porsche announced yesterday (Jan. 5) that they have now acquired 50.76% of common stock shares of Volkswagen. While this gives Porsche a majority interest in Germany's largest  automaker, it doesn't quite mean that the two long-related companies are merging, or that the customer experience of VW will be materially affected by the change in ownership just yet.

As a side note, the deal also means that both VW's Audi subsidiary and Scania (the commercial truck division of GM-controlled SAAB) comes under the Porsche corporate umbrella.

An interesting facet of the corporate maneuvering is that the German state of Lower Saxony still owns 20% of Volkswagen, and until Porsche controls a full 80% of the company, the state government exercises a veto over Porsche's ability to change management or make other substantial changes. Porsche has said that it plans to raise its holdings to 75% of VW over time.

Apart from buying up a profitable enterprise, Porsche's plans for the future aren't clear. But consider this a data point as automakers consolidate and prepare to weather the current economic storm. When the economy recovers, it's likely that there will be fewer brands and just a few very large corporations controlling the automobile industry.